


A dangerous mission

by Lisa_Lisa



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: "Jesus Christ Connor!", ANGST IS COMING, Almost Kiss, Alternate Universe - Canon, Arguing, Awkward situations, Bad Flirting, Blood and Injury, Clueless Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Connor denying to be a deviant even if he suspects he is becoming one, Crying, Denial of Feelings, Depression, Dorks in Love, Drama, Drugs, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fights, First Kiss, First Time, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Heavy Angst, Infiltration, Jealousy, M/M, Making Out, Mentions of past child abuse, Minor Character Death, Misunderstandings, North is one of the best here, Oblivious Connor, Reconciliation, Recovery, Romance, Self-Denial, Self-Discovery, Slow Build, Spoilers, Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, dad!hank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-05-21 03:21:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 150,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisa_Lisa/pseuds/Lisa_Lisa
Summary: After failing his mission at Eden Club, Connor has a last chance to prove his value by catching the deviants before chaos spreads throughout Detroit. However, Connor will soon discover that carrying out this new mission isn't as easy as he had thought, especially when he begins to harbor what humans call 'feelings' for the leader of the deviants.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I do not recommend to read this fic if you haven't played _Detroit: Become Human_ at least once, because there will surely be **SPOILERS of the game**. Otherwise, feel free to give it a read :) 
> 
> Also, the warning of the fic is currently T, but it will surely change as the story evolves, so make sure to check the tags when new chapters are posted :P

“Why didn’t you shoot?”

Connor felt the LED on his right temple blink, showing a yellow light for a brief moment before returning to its usual blue color. Even if his programming had been designed to make him capable of anticipating humans’ behavior in most part of the situations, there were two people that he had serious difficulties to read as clearly as the rest.

One of them was lieutenant Hank Anderson. The first time Connor met him in that bar his initial analysis concluded that the man was irritating, definitely difficult to work with, and probably incompetent. However, as they worked together to catch deviants, Connor soon discovered that his initial analysis had been quite wrong, because even if Hank had his flaws, such as his way to use alcohol to deal with his personal problems or his incapacity to correctly address his superiors, the man was really good in his job. Also, he was one of the few humans that most respected Connor, as if he sometimes forgot what Connor perfectly knew: that he was just a machine designed to fulfill his mission at any cost.

And the second person in that group of people difficult to read was Amanda, who was able to make questions that sometimes provoked certain instability in Connor’s system, such as the one she had just formulated.

Connor rapidly evaluated how to better answer the question, thing that proved to be more difficult than usual because, for once, he didn’t have a clear answer to give. Why hadn’t he killed those two androids? Hank had asked him the same thing the previous night, and Connor hadn’t been able to come up with a satisfying explanation. The only thing he knew was that, for the first time since he was activared, after learning that those two androids just wanted to escape to be together, something inside him had stopped him from pulling the trigger. But what that _something_ was, Connor didn’t know. Not yet at least.

Realizing that Amanda was beginning to get impatient, Connor updated his priorities, leaving the analysis of possible causes for failing his mission in the Eden Club for later and deciding that the best course of action now was to give a provisional answer.

“They were just too far away”

Connor grabbed again the paddles to keep moving the small boat along the water. He detected a light frown on Amanda’s face, which indicated him that his answer hadn’t been very well received. Connor prepared a new set of possible excuses but Amanda saved him the trouble of using them by telling him about his next mission. Apparently, a group of androids had managed to infiltrate the Stratford Building in order to send a message to the humans. Connor’s mission was, therefore, to identify the androids and capture them before people start panicking.

When Amanda finished speaking Connor rowed the boat towards the shore and helped Amanda to leave the small boat. He was about to abandon the garden when Amanda called for him again.

“Just one thing before you go, Connor. Up till now you have obtained excellent results in the investigation, and for that reason I will let this incident in the Eden Club slide. However…”, Amanda’s tone acquired a hint of warning, “…I really hope you do not disappoint me again”

Connor faced Amanda and bowed humbly.

“I won’t, Amanda. I will find those deviants and bring them to justice”

Amanda smiled, this time satisfied with the answer, and turned around to begin to walk along the garden. Connor turned around too and walked towards the exit, determined to fulfill his mission this time without fail

* * *

After riding the elevator towards the 79th floor of the Stratford Building, and after Hank irritatingly stole Connor’s coin from him, both were filled in with the last information that the police had reunited: that same morning around 1.57 p.m. the security guards were assaulted by four androids whose plan was to broadcast a message to the humans. After doing so, the androids had run towards the roof where they had fled by using parachutes. The good news was that there hadn’t been any human casualties, so panic hadn’t spread throughout the town yet as Amanda had feared.

Connor listened to the conversation that Hank and the police officer were having as discreetly as always. He followed them inside the control room, where they were introduced to FBI Special Agent Perkins, and after the man “subtly” threatened Hank to take over the investigation, Connor began searching clues on his own.

Connor ignored for the moment the impressive screen installed in the room that showed the skinless face of an android, and decided to check the cameras first. It didn’t take him much to find some valuable information, since the four androids had been recorded while waiting outside the room just before beginning the assault. The faces of two of them were easy to detect and Connor was able to identify a PJ500 android and PL600 android. The other two though were wearing caps, making impossible the identification, although Connor could see that one of the unidentified androids was female.

After gathering some more not-very-useful clues, Connor finally approached the big screen. Hank was also observing it, and after obtaining a confirmation nod from the inspector Connor reproduced the recording, letting the voice of the skinless android fill the room once again.

“ _We ask that you recognize our dignity, our hopes, and our rights. Together, we can live in peace and build a better future, for humans and androids. This message is the hope of a people. You gave us life. And now the time has come for you to give us freedom_ ”

For second time that day, Connor felt his LED turn on yellow for a brief instant. If he had been human, his reaction would have been to gulp for sure, because that android’s speech had made Connor unable to avert his eyes from him, and not just for the words that the android had chosen to use, but also for that calmed determination that those words carried.

It took Connor a little to notice that Hank had asked him a question. Connor answered in time but his focus was still on that mysterious android whose voice had managed to… what would it be the best word to describe it? _Captivate_. Yes: to captivate him in just an instant. 

Connor then proceeded to analyze that android’s face. He discovered that the android’s right blue eye had been replaced recently, but what caused Connor’s LED to be about to change once again was that he didn’t just manage to get the android’s model (RK200), but also his name and his former owner.

“Did you see something?”

Connor knew that he had to tell Hank about all his findings, since knowing that android’s name and the name of the human to whom he previously belonged was surely crucial information to try to track that android, who besides was probably the leader of the group. If he gave Hank that information, they would have a solid lead to follow, and if he informed Amanda about it, he would recover part of her trust for sure.

Yes, Connor knew that the logical thing to do was to tell Hank everything.

And for that reason, he couldn’t possibly explain the next words that escaped his mouth.

“I identified its model and serial number”

Connor didn’t know how his LED didn’t blink at that moment, because he was perfectly aware that he had just said a lie. And he hadn’t lied to protect a human, since that would be the only situation that would have justified such an act, he had lied because…

Why had he just lied?

“Anything else I should know?”

Connor looked at Hank. Now it was his chance to rectify. To tell what he actually knew.

But once again, he failed to do what he was supposed to.

“No. Nothing”

It was evident that Hank suspected something, but for some reason the man decided not to press the matter and pretend to be investigating something else.

Connor turned his attention to the screen once again, fixing his brown eyes on the android’s bicolor ones.

‘Alright’, Connor thought, ‘at least, since it seems that I cannot tell anyone about you, let’s see what I can find about you on my own. _Markus’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the ones who have played the game, I know that this chapter is practically what it takes place during the chapter called: "Public Enemy", so sorry if it has been boring to read, but it was necessary to begin the story xD The next chapter will be more original, I promise :)


	2. A new mission

“Connor, I won’t repeat it again: you have been about to die this afternoon so like hell if you are going to keep investigating”

“And I repeat you, Lieutenant, that I’m perfectly fine. Besides, I can’t ‘die’: in case that deviant had managed to cause a permanent malfunction, my memory would have just been transferred to another RK800 model without any problem”

Connor saw that, as it usually happened, his perfect reasoning wasn’t convincing Hank in the least, but he was saying the truth. Yes, that deviant in the kitchen had been about to cause a rather critical damage in his system, and saying that he hadn’t been certainly affected by the perspective of being disconnected would be a lie, but everything had ended right at the end and the change of model hadn’t been necessary. However, it was a pity that the deviant had been neutralized, making impossible to carry out another confession to try to guess what had exactly happened in the building.

“Well, immortal or not, you have been injured so you aren’t staying here one minute longer”, Connor was about to argue but Hank stopped him by firmly placing a hand on his shoulder, “so come back home and rest. I will check the roof in case we can find something else but I seriously doubt it: those androids were too well organized”

Connor was going to insist but he realized that if he did as Hank said, he could begin to search information about Markus even sooner than he had anticipated, so he accepted Hank’s suggestion, causing the lieutenant to look really surprised when Connor agreed so fast without any complains.

In barely half-an-hour Connor was entering the police station’s front door. Connor went directly to the room that had been assigned to him as a personal workspace, which currently could also be considered his home. As most part of the androids, Connor didn’t need to “rest” as Hank had suggested, since androids’ batteries had been designed to last more than 150 years, probably most in Connor’s case since his model was one of the newest. It was true though that after experiencing too stressful situations, such as the one Connor had just lived with that deviant, it was recommendable to enter a dormant state for some hours to assure that his main functions were in optimal condition. However, doing that was the last thing in Connor’s mind at that moment, so after entering the room and closing the door behind him he sat on the chair and turned on his computer with a brief blink of his LED.

Connor decided to begin with a general search to gather information about Markus’ model. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any information about how RK200 androids looked like because it was an old- prototype model. However, he managed to learn that those androids’ main functions were housekeeping, babysitting and cooking. In Markus’ case, his main purpose until becoming a deviant had been to take care of Carl Manfred, a millionaire famous painter who had suffered an accident that caused him to end on a wheelchair.

After doing a more thorough search by checking the last notifications that the police had received about inappropriate behaviors of androids, Connor found more information about Markus. Apparently, Markus had gotten violent with Carl Manfred’s son when this one had come to visit his father. Markus had attacked him, causing the young man to hit his head and end hospitalized.

Connor frowned when reading the report. The information written there definitely couldn’t belong to an android able to do such an inspiring speech, and even if there existed the possibility that Markus had lied during the broadcast to try to gain the humans’ trust, Connor honestly doubted it: he had analyzed Markus’ expression in the transmission, and it didn’t strike him as if he had been lying in the least. However, there was another possibility: up till now in all the cases that he had investigated with Hank, the androids that had turned deviants had become that way because somehow their owners did not treat them well but just the contrary, so it could be that Carl Manfred had treated Markus badly too, causing him to become a deviant and initiate the revolution.

With another blink of his LED Connor turned the computer off, knowing that keeping searching wouldn’t bring him any more answers, and that the only thing he could do to gather more information about Markus was to visit Carl Manfred and ask him directly.

Just when Connor had decided to do so the next morning, he received a call from Hank. 

“ _Hey, Connor. You still awake?_ ”, Connor understood that reminding Hank that androids don’t sleep was useless, so he just answered with a simple yes, “ _good. As I was fearing we haven’t found anything, but I have just remembered something that could help us in the investigation_ ”

Hank told Connor then that he planned to go visit Elijah Kamski, the former CEO of Cyberlife, the next morning to interview him, to see if he had any clues about why androids were turning into deviants.

After a quick analysis, Connor concluded that there was a probability of 87% that Hank didn’t appear in the police station until 10 a.m. the next morning, which meant that he could visit Carl Manfred earlier in the morning and be in the police station just in time to join Hank in his visit.

“Alright, Lieutenant. See you tomorrow” 

Connor didn’t consider necessary to warn the lieutenant or Amanda about him planning to visit Carl Manfred. After all, the visit wasn’t incompatible with his current mission of accompanying Hank to see Elijah Kamski.

After deciding this, Connor programmed himself to enter dormant mode for the rest of the night, since somehow he had the feeling that his condition better be perfect for the next day.

* * *

At 9 a.m. exactly Connor was in front of Carl Manfred’s manor. The previous night, just before disconnecting, he had requested an appointment to make sure that Carl Manfred was going to receive him, so theoretically the painter had to be waiting for him.

Connor approached the wooden doors and immediately a female android voice sounded.

“ _Unidentified guest. Please, state your name and the motive of your visit_ ”

Connor looked directly at the camera installed just at the top of the door, which was impossible to see by the human eye.

“My name is Connor, model RK800, serial number 313.248.317. I have an appointment with Mr. Manfred”

Just two seconds later the door of the manor opened, indicating Connor that he was allowed to enter. Connor scanned the entrance briefly. Without an exhaustive analysis it was evident that he was in an artist’s house: the paintings and sculptures that adorned the entrance made easy to guess that the owner had a unique sense of aesthetics.

Connor had just approached the side of the stairs to better admire the painting drawn on there when he heard steps. A MP600 android appeared climbing down the stairs and stopped just in front of Connor.

“Good morning. Mr. Manfred is waiting for you upstairs. However…”, the android’s monotone tone changed into one more cautious, “…I must warn you that his state is delicate, so please refrain from telling things that may affect him”

“Understood”, Connor said, following the android to the first floor.

Once there, Connor was just able to get a glimpse of the impressive living room before turning to his left to approach the room that was in the corner.

“I’ll be here in case Mr. Manfred needs anything”, the android opened the door and indicated Connor to enter while he remained outside.

Once inside Connor realized that he was in a bedroom. The same way as the entrance, the room was fully decorated with several pieces of art, but Connor this time just focused on the old man lying on the bed. Next to him there was a cardiac monitor that, for now, showed that the man’s pulse was normal, but Connor decided to be careful with the questions he was going to formulate not to worsen more that man’s condition.

“Connor, right?”

The named one was surprised when Carl Manfred’s voice sounded everything but fragile.

“Yes, Mr. Manfred”, Connor said with a soft voice, approaching the bed until standing just next to the man’s side, “I’m sorry to trouble you. I’m sure that you would prefer to be resting right now-”

“First of all, please, call me Carl”, the old man interrupted Connor, “‘Mr. Manfred’ reminds me of my father and I don’t like it. And second, I was just about to die from boredom so your visit is more than welcome”

Connor was about to tranquilize the man by saying that someone couldn’t die from boredom but at the last moment he checked in his almost-endless database and realized that it was just an expression that humans used. Surely working with Hank had made him better at understanding humans’ usual complicated expression.

“So, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Connor? You were quite cryptic in your message and I just know that it’s something related to an investigation, right?”

Carl tried to incorporate in the bed, and when seeing him struggle to do so Connor automatically helped him, making Carl show a grateful smile. Definitely, if that man had treated Markus badly, his acting skills were superb because he really seemed a nice person.

“I will try to be brief not to tire you out unnecessarily-”

“I already told you that I’m bored just lying here all day, so ask whatever you need”

Connor decided then not to mention again anything related to Carl’s condition, since it seemed to bother him, and proceeded to questions without more delay.

“As I told you in my message, I’m currently investigating with the police incidents where deviants are involved. I don’t know if you had heard about this in the news, but yesterday a group of androids assaulted the Stratford Building, with the intention of broadcasting a message directed to the humans”, Carl’s confused face indicated Connor that the man didn’t know about this, so he spoke the next words as carefully as he could, “and I am almost certain that the leader of that group may be Markus, your former android”

Connor got prepared for Carl’s outburst for mentioning the android that sent his son to the hospital, but to his surprise Carl’s expression just showed relief.

“So he is okay”, Carl sighed, “he managed to escape and he is alive”

Connor frowned, confused for Carl’s reaction.

“I don’t understand, Mr. Manf…Carl”, he rectified in the last second, “why do you feel relieved? According to our reports, Markus attacked your son and-”

“It was all a misunderstanding”, Carl’s determined works didn’t leave space for doubts, “Markus just defended himself when my son Leo attacked him without motive, out of jealousy. It was my son’s fault”, Carl averted his eyes with remorse, “and also mine for not realizing sooner how Leo really felt”

Connor nodded. This story matched way better with the Markus he had seen in the recording, and it had more sense that he had became a deviant after being unfairly attacked by Carl’s son.

“And you didn’t tell the police about this?”

“I tried”, Carl said in clear frustration, “but they just thought I was just talking nonsense. Damn, you don’t know how lucky you androids are for not turning into old fossils like humans do. When that happens, people stop believing you and quickly come to the conclusion that you ‘just don’t know what you are saying’”

Connor looked at the monitor and realized that Carl was getting exalted, so he rapidly changed the subject.

“Regarding Markus”, Connor managed to interrupt Carl’s offended speech, “do you have any idea about why he is acting the way he is? I mean…”, Connor proceeded to explain himself better when seeing that Carl hadn’t understood his question, “…until now, the deviants that we have found just had the intention of hiding, or running away, but neither of them considered the option of confronting the humans this way, so do you have any clue about why Markus could have behaved in such an unusual way?”

Connor’s question caused Carl to smile.

“Markus has always been special. He has a…sensibility that is difficult to find not just in androids, but also in humans. In fact, a lot of times I told him that he had more humanity than most of the humans I know”

Connor frowned.

“What do you mean with ‘sensibility’?”

Carl remained silent for a moment before signaling with a little trembling hand the TV placed in front of the bed. Connor understood Carl’s petition and turned it on.

“Search a video called ‘Piano’ and reproduce it, please”

Connor did as he was told. Immediately, the TV showed an attractive young man with green eyes playing a grand piano. Normally, Connor didn’t listen to music. In fact, the only music he had ever listened to was Hank’s favorite group because the man insisted on playing it at excessive volume in the car over and over again. Of course Connor had never seen anyone actually playing music either, and now that he was doing it Connor didn’t know what to think. He just knew that something in the way that young man played made him feel calm, at ease. It was evident that the man was playing with his heart.

“What do you think?”

There was certain pride on Carl’s voice.

“It’s beautiful”, Connor said without thinking before turning towards Carl, “is he your son?”

Carl’s smile widened.

“Yes, but not by blood. This is Markus”

Connor heard the artificial muscles of his neck crack with the fast way he turned to look at the TV again in disbelief. Because of the lack of information about the RK200 models’ appearance, and since the angle from which the video had been recorded didn’t show Markus’ right temple, Connor hadn’t been able to deduce that the young man playing the piano was indeed Markus. But that wasn’t all. As far as he knew…

“…he shouldn’t be able to do that”, Connor muttered to himself before looking at Carl, who kept smiling apparently amused by Connor’s confusion, “RK200 models are just designed to do housework: playing the piano or any kind of music are activities not contemplated in his specifications”

“Probably not”, Carl conceded, “and neither other activities such as playing chess, reading books, or painting”

Connor’s LED blinked momentarily.

“Can Markus do all that too?”

Carl nodded and signaled with his head a painting that was hanging on one of the walls, which showed an android’s hand sustaining a broken chain.

“Markus painted that, just the day he became a ‘deviant’ as you call them”, Carl looked at the TV even if the video had stopped playing already, “this is what I meant when saying that Markus is special. And for your reactions…”, Carl looked at Connor with an amused smile, “…I think that you think that about him too”

Connor detected that Carl’s words had a hidden meaning that, unfortunately, he was unable to read at his current level.

“Well, I think he is really intriguing”, Connor said a little on the defensive, and the fact that Carl chuckled just made Connor feel even more confused.

“Good excuse”, Connor was about to ask what Carl meant with that but the man talked first, “and now what do you plan to do with him, Connor? Are you going to catch him?”

“That’s my mission, yes”, when seeing the way Carl’s face saddened, Connor found himself talking again, “however, as long as he doesn’t hurt humans, my orders are just to discover where he is without doing him any harm”

Carl’s expression kept showing worry but he looked a little more at ease than before.

At that moment, the door of the room opened and the MP600 android entered the room.

“Mr. Manfred, my apologies for interrupting your reunion but it’s time for your medication”

“Argh, not again”, Carl’s complained while MP600 approached him with his unwavering polite smile, “as I said, it’s a pain in the ass to get older”

Connor offered Carl a polite smile. He was just thinking about the best way to tell the man that he looked really well for his age when suddenly he noticed Hank calling him.

“ _Connor, where the hell are you?_ ”

Connor’s LED blinked while he checked the hour. It was just 9.20 a.m., but apparently that day statistics had been against him and the probability of 13% of ‘ _Hank arriving before 10 a.m. to the office’_ had been correct.

“Y-Yes, lieutenant, I’m on my way”

Connor took the risk of hanging up, but his light stress should show in his face somehow because Carl looked him with worry.

“Are you alright, Connor?”

Connor nodded.

“Yes, it was my partner, so I should be going”, Connor bowed his head, “thank you very much for your time, Carl. Our conversation has been very helpful”

Carl smiled and offered Connor a hand that he hesitantly stretched, since it was the first time he greeted someone that way.

“Good luck, Connor. Hope you find what you are looking for”

Connor was about to say that, as far as he knew, he wasn’t looking for everything, but at that moment Hank called for him again and he hurriedly abandoned the manor, thinking about what excuse he was going to give Hank once he met him.

* * *

At the end, Connor decided to tell Hank that he had needed to undertake a routine check in Cyberlife after having been injured the previous day. That just caused Hank to laugh at him saying that he had been right when suggesting him to rest, and fortunately prevented the lieutenant from doing more questions.

The visit to Elijah Kamski though wasn’t as good as planned, because when the man asked Connor to shoot his android so that they could obtain more information about where the deviants could be, Connor couldn’t do it.

_We ask that you recognize our dignity, our hopes, and our rights_

Markus’ words resounded on Connor’s head when seeing the way that female android knelt in front of him, patiently waiting for her execution, and once again Connor found himself unable to pull the trigger.

When exiting Elijah Kamski’s house Hank told him that he had done the correct thing, but Connor just felt confusion. Confusion because, once again, he had failed to prioritize his mission over all the rest, and probably Amanda wouldn’t let this slide again.

During the drive back Connor talked even less than usual. He just listened in silence to the music Hank always played until they were in the police station once again. Connor sat in his desk and tried to work, but his thoughts were full of what had happened with Elijah Kamski and, also of the information Carl had given him about Markus.  

After almost an hour of thinking without coming to any conclusions, Connor was just considering telling Hank about his findings so that the inspector could give him some advice, but just when he was going to call for the man one of the TVs installed on the big police station turned on, showing what it seemed to be a manifestation.

“It has finally happened”, Connor heard a policeman say with clear disgust, “those things had decided to raise against us”

When hearing that comment Connor realized that the hundredth of people that composed the manifestation were androids, and the android who was leading the group was no other than Markus.

Connor’s eyes fixed on the leader of the deviants, feeling his LED blink once again. The android that he had seen play the piano with such talent and delicacy was now there, standing proudly and fearlessly in front of armed people, defending what he thought it was fair. Connor couldn’t deny that such an image was inspiring, and that Markus’ courage was something to admire…

“I knew it was a mistake to use one of this things”, without warning, Connor found himself in front of a policeman he had never seen before that grabbed his jacket in a threatening gesture, “I’m sure this piece of plastic is now thinking about joining the ones in the streets, hah?”

Connor didn’t have even time to think about what to say, because in an instant Hank was next to him to push back the policeman with such force that the man fell backwards with an undignified yelp.

“Ups, sorry, didn’t see you”

Hank’s casual words contrasted with his angry expression, that in fact caused the policeman in the floor to gulp before disappearing almost crawling on the floor. Connor looked at Hank and opened his mouth to thank him but the man simply winked at him before returning to his desk.

Connor kept seeing the march though, and when the androids obeyed the policemen’s petition but they nevertheless began to shoot at the androids, Connor’s LED reached the red color for just an instant. Since that morning he had been busy with Carl and Elijah Kamski’s visit, he hadn’t had time to check in the news that the previous night the deviants had also liberated other androids, that again the messages that they had left were pacifist, and that they hadn’t killed a single human, so why people kept wanting to massacre them? It was true that deviants were androids that didn’t work according to their original purpose, but if they didn’t do any harm…wasn’t it unnecessary that people destroyed them that way?

So focused Connor was on the screen showing now the motionless bodies of several androids that he almost missed that Amanda was calling for him at that precise moment.

Connor forced his circuits to stabilize while walking towards his private room. Once there, he accepted the call.

Immediately, he found himself in the Garden, with Amanda waiting for him in the middle of the bridge.

Connor walked towards her, reviewing what he was going to tell her until he was just in front of her. She was the first one to talk.

“After what happened today, the country is on the verge of a civil war. The machines are raising against their masters. At this rate, it will not be another option than destroying them. And for that reason, Connor, your mission has changed”

Connor prepared himself.

Amanda was surely going to mention his second failure. She would say that he was raising against her even if that had never been his intention, and that for that reason he was going to be replaced and-

“And your new mission will be to join the rebellion infiltrated as a deviant”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on, the story will change as you can imagine :P


	3. First meeting

Connor’s eyes opened impossibly wide when hearing Amanda’s last sentence. A new mission? He had already assumed that he was going to be sent back to CyberLife to be replaced, or even disconnected.

“You seem confused, Connor. May I suppose that you were not expecting this?”

“N-No, I…”, Connor tried to put in order his thoughts not to stutter again when talking, “it’s just that considering my performances in my last assignments I thought that I was not going to be given another chance”

“Well, I admit that after what happened in the Eden Club and with Kamski, the possibility of replacing you crossed my mind”, Amanda conceded, “however, after thinking about the best way to resolve our current situation, it just occurred to me that those failures could be used in our advantage”

Amanda walked towards the nearest bench and sat down, indicating Connor to do the same next to her. In front of the bench there was a square table with a small white box placed on it.

“As I have said already, your new mission is to infiltrate with the rest of the deviants, with the objective of gaining their leader’s trust”

Connor managed to keep his LED blue, even if Amanda mentioning Markus made Connor remember the conversation that he had held with Carl that morning.

“So my objective now is to neutralize the leader of the deviants?”

Amanda shook her head negatively.

“No, Connor: your objective is to try to convince him that if this revolution keeps going, it will only result in the destruction of all the deviants. I think there is still time to stop this before our people are involved in a civil war, and before CyberLife ends in a little critical situation. Therefore, I do not want you to neutralize the leader unless it is completely necessary. The same way, I will make sure to contact with the pertinent authorities so that policemen refrain themselves from keeping acting so violently from now on, not to compromise this mission”

Connor nodded. That meant that he could fulfill his promise to Carl about not having to harm Markus. In fact, if he succeeded in his mission, he could resolve the whole conflict peacefully while preventing more humans from dying and more androids from being destroyed.

“Of course, when being infiltrated you must send daily reports to inform about the deviants’ plans”, Amanda continued, “that way we will be able to prevent unpleasant situations before they even occur, such as what happened in the Stratford Building or in the Capitol Park. In order do this without any risk, CyberLife has implemented an update that will prevent your connection from being detected by other androids”

Amanda grabbed then the small box of the table and opened it, revealing an also white pen drive.

“The program with the update is inside”

Amanda offered the box to Connor, making evident what Connor had to do with that simple gesture.

Connor grabbed the pen drive and connected it to the USB input just behind his neck. Connor’s eyes blinked fast while the updated was installed in his system, which didn’t take more than a few seconds.

“Perfect”, Amanda said satisfied, “now you will be able to send your reports safely. While doing so, your LED will remain in a blue color and will just blink faster than usual, so you can now transmit whenever you need even if there are deviants around”

Connor returned the pen drive to the box and Amanda closed it, leaving it on the table again.

“Regarding the reports”, Connor inquired, “should I inform Lieutenant Anderson too of my progresses?”

Amanda frowned in disgust but nodded.

“Yes, I would prefer you did not do so, but I think it is the best. Otherwise I have the feeling that that irritating man will begin to ask questions about where you are. He seems to have taken a liking to you”

Connor felt the condition of his general system improve, which he guessed that in human language that meant that he felt ‘happy’ to hear that.

“So now, Connor”, Amanda spoke again, “your most immediate task is to discover where the deviants are. Even if Kamski did not tell you much, I think you should be able to locate their hideout with the clues you have gathered in your previous cases, so do that first. When you have the location, I will tell you about the measures we have taken to assure that your alibi of having turned into a deviant is credible”

“Understood, Amanda”, Connor stood up from the bench and bowed, “thank you for this last chance. I won’t fail you this time: I will stop this revolt for the sake of humanity and the androids”

Connor realized that maybe Amanda wasn’t going to be happy when hearing that, accidentally, he had given the androids as much importance as the humans, but Amanda simply nodded with a cryptic smile on her face.

“Do not worry, Connor. I know you will”

* * *

Connor managed to find the location of Jericho easier than he had expected: Carlos Ortiz’s android’s hidden message indicated Connor that the clue was inside the statue they found in the house, and after obtaining the map he had just needed to probe the memory of the deviant that had attacked him in the kitchen to guess where Jericho was.  Then, after talking to Amanda once again and after saying Hank goodbye for the moment, Connor changed his uniform for more human clothes and went to the hideout.

While going there, Connor tried to convince himself that his circuits were more unstable than usual because the result of his mission would greatly affect the conflict that had begun to spread in Detroit, but a part of him knew that his state was due to the fact that he was going to meet Markus, and considering what an impression the deviant leader had already left on him just after seeing him a couple of times in recordings, Connor didn’t know how it would be to meet him in person.

Deciding that it was useless to think too much about something that was about to happen, Connor decided to focus on reviewing his new backstory, since he would need to convince not just Markus but also the deviants that he was now one of them, or his mission would end even before having started. By doing that, Connor avoided to think too much about unnecessary things and in no time he was in front of the ship called Jericho, the deviant’s hideout.

Surprisingly, he didn’t find any vigilance in the entrance, being able to enter the ship without any difficulties.

After walking through a rather dark corridor Connor arrived at a wider area, where multiple androids were reunited. Some were hurt and were simply lying on boxes that acted as improvised beds while others were attending the harmed, but most part of them were looking at the screens situated along the room, watching the news related to the march that had taken place that same morning.

Carefully, Connor walked through the crowd, trying to figure out where Markus could be. After checking the place, Connor realized that there was some kind of control room in the second floor, so he climbed up the stairs to investigate it. There were also androids watching the news there, but at least it was easier to walk without bumping into someone, so Connor could arrive at the control room relatively fast. He remained at a prudent distance though to analyze what was inside discretely.

From where he was standing, Connor could clearly see three androids and a fourth that was in the further side of the room, which made its identification difficult. Connor identified the two androids that had been recorded in the Stratford Building. That meant that the female android wearing a side braid had to be the one that appeared in that same recording. And then, the android that he could barely see had to be-

“ _IT’S HIM_!”

Connor was so focused on his analysis that he couldn’t react in time when a couple of androids tackled him from behind, causing him to fall into the floor facing down with his arms behind his back. With the impact Connor’s bottom lip broke, causing a thin line of blue blood to slide from his mouth to his chin, but since RK800 had been developed to stand way worse wounds than that one Connor barely noticed it.

“Did you think that you could enter here without being noticed, Deviant Hunter?”

One of the androids pressed his weight more against Connor so that the left side of his face was pressed against the metallic floor. Connor had already anticipated that he would have to face some troubles during his mission, but he hadn't thought that he was going to deal with them so soon.

Connor considered the option of setting himself free: his programming would easily allow him to get rid of those two, but maybe it was not the best way to act if he didn’t want to cause an even worse impression. After all, more androids were beginning to approach with curiosity, so if he neutralized his captors the rest of the androids could panic, and that’s something he should avoid.

“You don’t understand”, Connor said calmly, his tone cautious not to exalt those androids more, “yes, before I was an android that worked with the police to catch deviants, but not anymore. Now I’m a deviant just like you”

“You lie!”, the android pressed his head more against the floor, “you have come here to kill us! You just-”

“What’s going on here?”

Connor felt his artificial heart to skip a beat when hearing that voice that immediately caused the android to shut up.

Forcing his head up Connor looked at the place the voiced had come, and felt how the last circuit of his body reacted when seeing Markus standing there, looking towards his direction.

As Connor had expected, seeing Markus in the recordings or on the TV has nothing to do with seeing him in person. Saying that the deviant leader was imposing wouldn’t be accurate because actually Markus looked rather calm, but it was also evident that he had that charisma which caused the rest to want to follow him. In fact, he hadn’t even needed to raise his voice or to use a commanding tone to make the android stop accusing Connor. And also, without knowing how exactly such a thought had entered his mind, Connor confirmed that the deviant leader was definitely more handsome in person than in the recordings.

Connor decided to analyze later why such an irrelevant piece of information had caught his attention and focused on his current situation. The ruckus had caused the androids inside the control room to get out because not just Markus was now outside, but also the other three androids that had assaulted the Stratford Building. Well, if there was a time to convince the rest that he was a deviant like them, it had to be then.

“We have just caught the Deviant Hunter sneaking inside Jericho, Markus”, said the android that had remained quiet while the other accused Connor.

“First of all, I haven’t ‘sneaked’. I just entered by the front door because you don’t have any guards keeping this place safe. And second, I already told you that ‘Deviant Hunter’ is a title that doesn’t apply to me anymore. Now I’m just Connor”

The android was about to keep arguing but Markus intervened again while approaching Connor until being a meter apart.

“Before doing anything let’s give him the opportunity to explain himself. And you, Connor”, the named one felt his circuits react again when Markus spelled his name, “you better not try anything because we clearly outnumber you, understood?”

Connor nodded from the floor and the two androids finally released him. Once he was standing again, Connor softly removed the blue blood from his bottom lip with the back of his hand and rapidly scanned the rest of the androids that accompanied Markus to get their names. After doing so, he focused on the deviant leader again. This one was looking at him with an imperturbable expression but his whole body was in tension, as if he was prepared to attack at any moment if necessary.

‘Well’, Connor thought, ‘time to work’.

“As I’ve said already, my name is Connor, and I used to work with humans in order to catch deviants”, Connor managed to talk with a determined voice even if he was actually having unusual difficulties in keeping eye contact with Markus’s scrutinizing gaze, “however, I’m no longer with them, and I’ve come to Jericho because I have information that may help the revolution that you have initiated”

“Oh, really?”, this time it was the female android that responded to the name of North who intervened, and unless Connor was reading her tone wrong, she was being clearly sarcastic, “well, how convenient: just when we are struggling a savior appears suddenly in our rescue”, North snorted, “sorry, but I’m not buying it”

“Maybe the timing is too good, but if he had wanted to do us any harm he could have done so already”, the android called Josh commented, “after all, we didn’t notice him until he was this close”

“You have a point there, but maybe his mission was just to harm Markus”, the last of the four, Simon, argued with Josh, “and in that case, it’s logical that he had wanted not to draw unnecessary attention”

“You say that you have turned into a deviant”, Markus spoke again, causing the other three to stop discussing, “but it that’s true, how is it that we haven’t heard anything in the news about the newest model of CyberLife becoming a deviant?”

Connor managed to keep his stance firm even if Markus’ question had taken him by surprise. Fortunately, he was able to come up with a response in an acceptable amount of time.

“I don’t know, but I think that it’s precisely for that reason: if the newest and theoretically more advanced model of CyberLife has also fallen into deviancy, the reputation of the company will definitely fall, and I guess they want to prevent that at any cost”

Connor’s stress was considerably reduced when seeing the male androids’ stance relax lightly, indicating him that they had believed his reasoning. However, it didn’t happen the same with North.

“I still think that it’s too convenient”, she fixed her eyes on Markus, “we can’t trust him, Markus. We should probe his memory”

“Are you crazy?”, Josh jumped, “you perfectly know what happened to the androids that went through that: most part of them ended broken, and the ones who managed to survive didn’t recover completely”

“It’s a risk that we must take: it’s the only way to know if he is lying!”

“Yes, but if he is saying the truth we will be hurting someone innocent!”

“Do it”

Everyone, Markus included, looked at Connor in disbelief when he said that while extending his arm towards Markus, offering it to him. In fact, Connor himself was a little surprised because he had said that in an impulse.

“Do you realize what you are agreeing to?”, Markus cautiously said.

Connor nodded. He knew he was risking too much by doing this, but it was the only way to gain the group’s trust. Besides, considering that everyone but North was hesitant to follow this method, statistics said that the group would decide with a 73% of probability not to follow North’s advice. He just hoped that statistics didn’t turn against him as it had happened with Hank the last time.

Some long seconds passed and neither of the androids was reacting, and eventually it was North who broke the silence by clicking her tongue.

“Fine, I’ll do it”

Connor froze when seeing the female android begin to walk towards him with determination after pushing Josh away when this one tried to stop her. Connor hadn’t predicted that. He thought that the group was going to reach an agreement about what to do, but North’s reaction of going against the others' opinions was a purely _human_ reaction, and Connor had failed to read it, forgetting that deviants couldn’t be read as mere androids anymore.

Feeling his LED pass from blue to red, Connor was thinking rapidly about what to do when two things passed at the same time:

First, just when North was going to grab Connor’s arm, Markus grabbed her hand just before she could grasp Connor, which caused her to look at Markus with a conflicted expression that, again, Connor was unable to read.

And second, just at the same time that Markus stopped North, a female android suddenly came out from the crowd and situated between Connor and the rest.

“Wait, please, don’t hurt him”

“Yes, don’t”, another female android approached the first one, also making a barrier between Connor and the group, “if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be here now”

It was at that moment that Connor realized that the two androids that were just protecting him were no other than the Tracis that he had left escape in the Eden Club. However, they were now wearing human clothes and their hairs were combed differently, so he hadn’t recognized them at first.

Markus looked at the two androids alternatively before focusing on Connor again.

“Is that true?”

The blue-haired Tracy didn’t let Connor speak, doing it on his behalf.

“He went to the Eden Club where we were enslaved to catch me. But even if he managed to corner us and could have killed us, he didn’t”, the android turned her head to smile at Connor with gratitude, “He let us escape. He saved us”

“And he saved me too”

At that moment Chloe, Kamski’s android, came out the crowd as well and joined the Tracis’ barrier. She was now wearing her blond hair loose and a pair of jeans and a sweater instead of the blue dress she was wearing when Connor met her, but it was definitely her.

“My owner asked him shoot at me so that they could obtain certain information, but Connor didn’t do it: he chose my life over his mission, and that finally made me wake up”

For the first time, Connor was at a loss of words. Because of the discussion that the group had been holding about probing his memory or not, he had momentarily forgotten that the initial plan had been to speak to Markus and the rest about having saved the Tracis and Chloe, but it hadn’t been necessary: they all had decided to intervene to protect _him_ , on their free will, and that was something that he could have never predicted. 

“Well, then maybe it’s true that a savior has joined us”

Connor’s attention focused on Markus again when hearing him say that, and he had to force his circuit to stabilize once again after they became crazy when seeing the approving smile that Markus was offering him.

“Convinced already?”, Simon told North softly while Josh approached Connor to officially introduce himself.  When hearing the comment the woman simply half-closed her eyes at Connor and left towards the control room, not doing any attempt to approach Connor like the rest.

Simon also shook Connor’s hand and after that the tense mood finally disappeared: the two androids that had attacked Connor apologized to him, and the Tracis and Chloe managed to surprise him once again by trapping him in a collective hug before disappearing into the crowd once again, being Markus the only one who remained next to Connor.

“It seems that you aren’t used to being a deviant yet”, Markus commented with amusement, “you react every time that someone shows any kind of emotions”

Markus’ comment made Connor nervous again.

“W-Well, yes, it’s actually been just some hours since I… _woke up_ ”

Markus nodded in understanding.

“You will get used soon, don’t worry”, Markus adopted then a more serious tone, “regarding what you have said about having information that can help us, I really want to hear about it but probably it’s better if we wait until tomorrow: today it has been a complicated day for all of us, and I’m sure you want to rest too”

“Understood, leader”

Connor’s answer caused Markus to raise an eyebrow with a hint of a smile, but this time Connor understood what he had done wrong.

“Okay, Markus?”, he guessed, causing Markus to chuckle before nodding, and Connor thought that he really had to check his system: he had to have some kind of internal problem for sure, because his circuits always reacted excessively every time that Markus showed that kind of expressions.

“Yes, much better. And also…”

Suddenly, Markus approached Connor more and raised his hand towards Connor’s mouth, which caused Connor to give a step back with his heart hammering after having had Markus’ fingers so close to his lips.

“Oh, sorry”, Markus said hurriedly in an apologetic tone while Connor tried to regulate his artificial breathing, “you were just bleeding again and I was just going to check that your bottom lip was okay. Habits from my caretaking functions. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you”

“N-No, it’s alright”, Connor said, rapidly cleaning his bottom lip while his heart kept beating a little too fast, “I think it will be fine soon. My model has been made to heal fast”

“That’s good, but you should have it checked just in case”, Markus insisted, “Also, feel free to install yourself wherever you want. The ship is big and there are some individual cabins in the third floor, although most part of the people prefer to sleep in the first floor not to be alone”

“Unders-okay”, Connor rectified, “and tomorrow, what time should I go to see you?”

“I don’t sleep much, so from 6 a.m. I will be already awake”

“Alright, see you at that hour tomorrow then”

Markus smiled slightly and nodded.

“See you tomorrow, Connor. And welcome aboard”

Markus disappeared then towards the control room with a wave of his hand and Connor went to the first floor again. After looking around a little he found a calm-looking spot on a corner of the room, next to some boxes.

Connor went there, sat down on the floor, and used his recently installed update to send a simple message to Amanda and Hank: ‘ _Infiltration complete_ ’.

After that, Connor leant his back against the box and closed his eyes but remained awake. The day had been full of emotions so the best thing would be to enter dormant mode, but Connor’s priority right now was to better study humans' behaviors to learn to read the deviants better. Probably by doing that his body would stop reacting as strangely as it did when Markus was around, although Connor suspected that the reason for his weird behavior was something different. Something that he didn’t know yet but that, this time, he wasn’t sure to want to discover.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they finally meet :D Time for Connor to ride an emotional roller coaster xDD


	4. Gaining trust

At 5.59 a.m. Connor was outside the first floor control room, checking his internal clock, and just when the hour changed to 6.00 a.m. he knocked firmly three times. Connor was expecting that Markus was the one in opening the door, so he was surprised when North did it instead.

The female android’s expression darkened in an instant. She was looking at Connor with the same distrust that she had showed the night before. It seemed that convincing North that he was trustworthy was going to be a really difficult task, probably an impossible one.

“Look at the ex-Deviant Hunter”, North said with a harsh tone, “not even a second late. That’s not very deviant, you know?”

Before Connor could think off a reply Markus appeared from behind North, causing the woman to throw a last glare at Connor before separating from the door so that Markus could approach Connor instead.

“Oh, good, you are already here”, Markus greeted, “come in”

Connor did so. Simon and Josh were already there. The first one greeted Connor with a smile while the second one waved his hand at him. North simply half-sat against the control desk with her arms and legs crossed in clear rejection.

“Just to be sure”, Connor said, looking at the rest alternatively, “you four are the ones in charge of Jericho, right?”

Simon chuckled when hearing Connor’s too direct question while Josh scratched the back of his head awkwardly and North exhaled a sigh as if Connor was dumb.

“I guess we are, but just since Markus became the leader”, Simon commented.

“Yes, before we were just like the rest”

“That’s not true”, Markus intervened when hearing his companions, “you two were the first in finding this place. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have a place to stay now. It’s for that reason that people trust in you when they have trouble, not for anything else”

Simon and Josh smiled with a mix of embarrassment and content when hearing Markus’ praising words. 

“Why do you ask, ex-Deviant Hunter?”, North suddenly said, breaking the nice moment, “do you want to apply for a top position? Because it’s a little late: there aren’t any vacancies left”

Connor blinked.

“I didn’t know that you had a system to being promoted. How does it work exactly?”

The four deviants looked at Connor with equally surprised expressions, but even if North seemed about to insult Connor at any moment, the other three looked about to laugh at any moment.

“Seems like the newcomer is a little literal”, Simon commented jokingly, “you know, the trick to read North is easy: just take everything she says as sarcasm except when she threatens you. That’s always for real”

Simon’s answer caused Josh and Markus to chuckle and North to show her middle finger at Simon with a fake charming smile. It was evident that those four got along really well despite their differences, Connor thought.

“So, Connor”, the named one automatically focused on Markus when this one spelled his name with curiosity, “could you share with us that information that you commented it will help in our fight?”

Connor nodded and without wasting any more time he told the rest what he and Amanda had left prepared beforehand: that afternoon an inspection was going to take place in a certain apartment block of Detroit with the objective of detecting signs of deviancy, since a deviant had been found in one of those apartments some days ago, and in case more deviants were found, they would be immediately destroyed.

After listening to the news the fourth deviants interchanged worried looks.

“Alright, the main problem is that that block is really close to Detroit Center”, Josh began, “so going there without being spotted may be complicated”

“Yes, besides the security in the streets has increased drastically since yesterday’s march”, Simon coincided, “but as long as we hide our LEDs we shouldn’t have much trouble to go there”

“No, the bigger problem here is what do we do when we are in the apartment block?”, North intervened.

“When is it scheduled to carry out the inspection?”, Markus asked Connor then.

“13.00 p.m.”

Markus nodded to himself before turning to the rest.

“Okay, what about this? Among our people there are some PC200 androids that can lend us their police uniforms. We disguise ourselves as police officers, go to the apartment block, and there we just have to ask the neighbors so that they let us check their androids with the excuse of searching for signs of deviancy. That will allow us to wake them up and to inform them about the real inspection”

“So your plan is to carry out a fake inspection before the humans can do the real one”, Simon smiled, “I like it”

“But the uniforms that we have are android’s uniforms, Markus”, North pointed out, “if we want people not to suspect, we should be accompanied by an human”

“And we will”, Markus suddenly turned towards Connor, “ _he_ will be playing the human role”

Connor’s eyes opened wide. He had assumed that he wasn’t going to participate in the mission because the others wouldn’t trust him enough yet, but Markus had managed to surprise him again.

North was obviously about to protest but Markus placed his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from doing so.

“North, we need him for this. His experience as a detective will surely help to carry out the inspection without raising suspicions”

“I don’t trust him, Markus!”, North exclaimed, “what if he betrays us during the inspection and we are caught? What if _you_ are caught?”

“Listen, North”, Simon approached the woman, “I honestly don’t think he plans to betray us, but we just need to be careful and watch him to make sure nothing like that happens”, Simon offered Connor an apologetic smile, “no offense”

It took Markus, Simon and Josh more than ten minutes to convince North that Connor should go with them, and another full ten when they realized that the only police uniforms that they had in good shape belonged to male androids and consequently North couldn’t accompany them. Eventually, the female deviant reluctantly agreed to remain at Jericho, taking Markus’ place as the leader while the rest were outside, but she made Simon promise almost another ten times that he wouldn’t take his eyes from Connor at any moment, thing that Simon promised while apologizing to Connor for having to be so rude with him.

While Markus went to gather the PC200 uniforms Connor, Josh and Simon went to see Lucy so that she helped them hide the LED of their temples. She offered Connor to remove his LED completely, but when Connor refused the woman proceeded to apply a good amount of make-up to the androids’ LEDs until they perfectly merged with their artificial skin. Once everyone was ready, they left Jericho disguised as humans to go towards their destination.

Since the center of Detroit was rather far away from the ship they took a bus, which allowed them to arrive at the apartment block rather quickly. Before entering, the four androids entered a nearest alley so that Markus, Simon and Josh could get changed while Connor watched that no one was looking. When the three deviants were dressed in police uniforms, they remained in the alley a little more to review the plan.

“Okay, so how are we doing this?”, Josh asked, trying to look calm and failing because he was clearly the most nervous of the four.

“The protocol when there is an inspection is always the same”, Connor explained with a calm voice, “first, considering that this building is quite old and hasn’t been reformed in years, there is a high possibility that a human janitor is still in charge of it instead of an android. If that’s the case, we will introduce ourselves to him or her, or more accurately, I will be the only one in introducing myself since right now you are just androids under my orders”

“You’re lucky that North isn’t here or she would have shouted at you for sure when hearing that”

“Simon, focus!”

“Jeez, it was just a joke, Josh, relax a little: you are way too nervous”

“Well, _excuse me_ for being nervous for having to enter a building full of humans when humans are trying to hunt us and-”

“And after that what do we do, Connor?”, Markus commented patiently, effectively making the other two to shut up.

“After obtaining the janitor’s permission, we speak to the neighbors”, Connor continues, “I think that the quickest way would be go floor by floor asking them to exit their houses with their respective androids so that we can check them”

“But if we do that, we’ll be literally surrounded by humans”, Josh commented with a gulp.

“Yes, we will, but this method is faster than going knocking door by door”, Connor turned to look at Markus, “although we can do it this way if you prefer”

Markus exhaled a long sigh before looking at Simon, silently asking for his opinion.

“Right now it’s 7.22 a.m.”, Simon said with his usual calm tone, “which means that we have 5 hours and 38 minutes to do this, but we must give the androids enough margin so that the ones who want to escape can do it. A couple of hours should be enough, which leaves us with 3 hours and 38…no, now 37 minutes to check the whole building. I think we have time to follow the door by door method. That way there are fewer risks that something goes wrong, and that North kills me for not fulfilling my promise”

Markus nodded while Josh exhaled a relieved sigh.

“Alright, slower and safer method then. Come on, we can’t waste much more time then”

After Markus gave the signal, the four androids finally entered the building.

As Connor had predicted, there was an old, chubby man working as a janitor behind the desk entrance who was reading some kind of magazine with great interest. Connor approached it, and managed to remember just in time to present himself without saying his model nor his serial number.

“Good morning, I’m Detective Connor… _Anderson_. I presume that you have been informed about the inspection that is going to take place today in the building”

“Y-Yes, I have”, the man cleared his throat and hurriedly hid the magazine he was just reading under the desk, “but we were warned that the inspection was going to take place at 13.00”

Connor could perfectly hear the three deviants holding his breath behind him, but he had everything under control

“Yes, I know, and let me apologize because you were informed of a wrong hour on purpose”, Connor leant over the desk and began to hiss the next words on the man’s ear in a reassuring tone, “we needed to avoid that the deviants that could be living in this building learnt about the real hour of the inspection. For that reason we have come way sooner: so that we can catch them before they try to escape”

The man’s previous confused expression turned into one of exaggerated understanding.

“Oooh, I see”

_‘Very clever’_

Connor almost jumped, a shiver traveling down his circuits when suddenly hearing Markus’ voice in his head. Of course it was not the first time that he communicated with another android using that method, but he had not expected that and, without knowing why, this time his body had acted exaggeratedly.

_‘Sorry’_

This time Connor wasn’t taken by surprise and answered wirelessly with a simple ‘ _It’s okay’_ to Markus’ apology before focusing on the janitor again.

“So, with your permission, we will begin with this floor and then we’ll check the upper ones”

After the janitor gave his approval with an also exaggerated nod, the four androids initiated the inspection.

The process that they followed was always the same: Connor knocked at the door, introduced himself to the house owners, and asked if they had any androids. In this case, Connor entered the apartment with Markus while Simon kept an eye on the owners and Josh discretely guarded the corridor. Then, Markus pretended to check the android in order to wake it up and tell it about the real inspection and about the location of Jericho. After that, Connor reassured the owners that their android was in perfect state and went to the next room.

During the first three floors, they repeated this routine over and over again, and like that two hours later they have checked around 40 apartments, liberating a total of 32 androids. In another hour, they checked the fourth and fifth floor, liberating another 17 androids. And then, finally, they have a little more than half-an-hour to check the sixth floor.

_‘I think I’m going to dream with Connor’s speech for a whole week: <Good morning, I’m Detective Connor Anderson. Considering the last incidents with androids that took place in this block I’m here to check if your android is working correctly and…>’_

_‘Simon, focus’,_ Markus transmitted with a light reproachful tone, ‘ _we are about to finish but let’s not lower our guard now_ ’

After checking another 5 apartments and verifying that there weren’t any androids inside them, Connor finally knocked at the last apartment of the building.

When some seconds passed and no one answered, Connor knocked again more firmly.

“Anybody home?”, Connor waited politely and then talked again, “please, open the door. Detroit Police”

“Maybe this apartment is actually empty”, Josh whispered, but just then the door opened slightly, allowing the rest to see a sickly looking man that scanned them suspiciously from head to toe before finally focusing on Connor.

“Good morning”, Connor said for hundredth time, “I’m Detective Connor Anderson. Considering the last incidents with androids that have taken place in this block recently, I’m here to check if your android is working correctly. Please, could you allow us to enter to carry out the verification? I promise I will just borrow some minutes of your time”

The man stared at Connor for some seconds before speaking with a gruff voice that clearly hinted that he wanted Connor and the rest out of there.

“Ain’t any. Those things are fucking expensive and ain’t the money to buy them”

After the man said that, a set of hesitant, irregular steps sounded at the other side of the door, and Connor managed to catch a brief glimpse of a little figure appearing just behind the man just before this one closed more the door nervously.

“Is anybody else living with you, sir?”, Connor asked politely, even if he already knew the answer.

“’ve already said than ain’t any, ‘kay?”, the man exclaimed again, confirming even more Connor’s suspicious, “so just lemme alone”

After that the man closed the door without letting Connor say anything else, but Connor felt his hidden LED react because he was able to see that the small figure that the man had hurriedly tried to hide was indeed a skinless little android, who tried to limp towards the door with a scared expression on its face before the door eventually snapped closed.

Connor didn’t need to turn around to see the expression the others were showing, since their frustration could be physically felt.

“He was lying”, Josh exclaimed before remembering that he theoretically couldn’t speak, “that man was keeping an android inside, you all saw it!”

“We have to take it with us”, Markus approached Connor, “knock again and when he opens the door we enter and take the kid with us”

“We can’t do that”

Markus’ frown accentuated when hearing Connor negative.

“What?”

Even if Markus didn’t raise his voice, Connor clearly detected the anger in his voice.

“If we enter by force, the man will surely shout alerting the rest of the neighbors”, Connor explained, forcing himself to keep looking at Markus in the eyes, “and if they decide to attack, maybe we won’t be able to get out of here”

“Connor is right, Markus”, Simon said with sadness, “it’s a pity, but we will risk too much if we enter now”

“But you saw the man!”, Josh protested, “he didn’t precisely look like a model owner!”

“I know it, Josh, but we can’t just risk ourselves to be attacked now and-”

At that moment a piercing high-pitched cry sounded at the other side of the door, followed immediately by an unintelligible curse and more desperate whines, but even if Connor was frozen when hearing that heartbreaking sound, he was fast enough to situate just between Markus and the door before this one could get closer.

“Step aside, Connor. We aren’t leaving without the kid”, Markus hissed, and Connor actually gulped when seeing the fierce determination in Markus’ eyes. He realized that even if the deviant leader usually chose the most pacifistic approach, this time there would be nothing or no one that would stop him from bursting into that room to take that little android with them, so Connor better think something fast to prevent that from happening.

“Let me try something first”, Connor asked rapidly, “if it doesn’t work, I won’t stop you”

For a moment Connor thought that Markus wasn’t going to listen to him, but eventually the deviant leader exhaled a sigh and stepped backwards, situating again next to Josh and Simon. Connor then knocked again, with even more force than before.

“Sir, please, open the door. There’s something else I need to tell you”

Ten long seconds passed, during which Connor thought that he wouldn’t be able to stop the others from entering the house, but at the end the door opened and the sickly man appeared again, now wearing a fresh wound on his right eyebrow.

“Sorry, detective, but ‘ve already said I ain’t any android and I’m kinda busy now and-” 

“And you have lied, sir. I have just checked in our reports that you purchased an android a year ago”, Connor saw the man get pale and continued, using a harsher tone, “lying to the Police is a crime, but if you let us examine your android to verify that it works correctly, I will let it slide”

The man gulped, looking suddenly afraid.

“Ya know, actually my Dana has been acting kinda strange lately, so ‘ve been forced to…umh…make sure she behaved, so I-I didn’t wanna to let you see it ‘cause she’s kinda broken and-”

“I understand, sir”, Connor spoke rapidly because he had felt Markus and Josh about to jump over the man, “I’m here just to check your android, not to judge how you treat her, so can we enter now?”

Those last words seemed to finally convince the man because he finally opened the door completely with a relieved smile, allowing Connor and the rest to enter.

Connor wasn’t surprised when seeing the deplorable state of the house, which looked so abandoned and dirty that it was difficult to believe that someone actually lived here. What it surprised him was the shock that traveled by his circuits when seeing the small figure of the skinless girl android curled in the floor, crying noiselessly and bleeding blue from a wound that had just been made on one of her arms. He also observed that one of her feet was in a strange angle, which was surely the cause of her previous limping, and that practically all her body was covered in dents.

Connor gulped, forgetting for a moment his role as a human detective when a river of unintelligible information that he didn’t know where it come from traveled until his artificial heart, making him be about to gasp. If he had to choose a way to describe that feeling, he guessed that it would be very similar to human pain.

_‘Connor, let’s finish here before we do something we will regret later’_

Connor managed to focus again when Markus spoke to him wirelessly, with a raspy voice that indicated the efforts the deviant was making to hold back his impulse of attacking that human right there and then. 

 Adopting again a polite tone, Connor informed the man that he would proceed with the inspection. Markus then approached the little android slowly and placed a hand delicately over her little one, pretending to scan her even if it was evident that Dana was already a deviant.

After a minute or so, Markus gave Connor a signal and this one informed the man that her android was malfunctioning and they had to take her with them to examine it.  The man seemed bothered for a moment, as a child who was about to be deprived of one of his toys, but Connor controlled the situation by lying to the man, telling him that since the malfunctioning hadn’t been his fault, a new model would be sent to him the next week

That improved the man’s mood completely, and in fact he said goodbye to Connor with a happy smile while the four of them abandoned finally the block with Markus carrying Dana in his arms.

Neither of them spoke until reaching the alley where Markus, Simon and Josh had changed clothes to do the same. Again, Connor remained watching to make sure that no one was seeing them. Meanwhile, Josh took out his scarf to cover Dana’s wounded arm with it and Markus used his coat to fully cover her. The girl android didn’t seem to have assimilated what had just happened yet, so it was Simon the one who manually activated the girl’s dark skin and her curly dark hair, so that they didn’t raise too many suspicions when coming back to Jericho.

Once they entered the bus, Simon and Josh sat together in a double-seat while Markus, Dana and Connor did the same just in front of them. It was then when Dana finally reacted. She fixed her big, black eyes on Connor’s ones and muttered something that Connor didn’t understand at first, so he bent down and approached his ear to Dana’s small mouth.

“Thank you”

Connor gulped. Dealing with children hadn’t been included in his programming so he awkwardly patted the girl’s head, causing the rest to chuckle and Dana to smile shyly at him. This caused a flood of new unreadable information to settle on Connor’s artificial heart, but, this time, it caused a positive effect in Connor’s system, so he decided to call that feeling ‘happiness’ from now on.

* * *

When they finally came back to Jericho North was just at the door, impatiently waiting for them. Simon and Josh explained her and the rest of the deviants that the mission had been a success while Markus began to take Dana to Lucy. Connor was just planning to stay aside to send another report to Amanda and Hank when he felt a soft grip on his jacket: it was Dana grabbing him while Markus was still carrying her, as if she was silently asking him that she didn’t want him to go.

Just at that moment North approached Markus to warn him that a group of deviants had just appeared at the door.

“They probably are coming from the apartments we’ve come to visit”, Markus looked at Connor, “please, could you take her to the infirmary while I speak to them? Besides, I think she prefers you to go with her”

Connor felt the grip on his jacket tighten and understood that with that gesture Dana had just confirmed Markus’ words.

“Yes, of course, leave it to me”

After Markus left Dana in Connor’s arms to follow North, Connor carried the girl android to the infirmary, where she immediately turned off her skin. Lucy approached then the girl, and although Connor thought that his job was done when he tried to leave he saw Dana’s LED blinking rapidly in an obvious stressed state, so he remained just there next to her while Lucy treated her.

An hour and half later Dana was finally asleep, so Lucy kindly said Connor that he could leave already after thanking him.

Connor had just left the tent when Josh assaulted him.

“Great, here you are”, Josh’s tone became apologetic, “look, I know that probably I’m asking you too much but could you do me a favor? Now it would be my turn to keep watch but we are a little overloaded trying to accommodate the new members so could you do it for me?”

Connor nodded.

“Alright”, Connor said immediately, “where should I go?”

Josh smiled gratefully.

“It’s upstairs, the bigger cabin of the third floor. Thanks, man”

Connor went to the indicated place. The cabin was completely empty with the exception of a couple of boxes that had been placed next to the wall so that someone could sit on them while keeping watch.

After taking a seat, Connor looked outside the window to finally give his daily report. Amanda’s reply came almost an hour later. She told him that she would announce during the afternoon news that no deviants had been found during the inspection, to strengthen that way Connor’s alibi about an inspection actually taking place. Also, Amanda asked Connor if he had faced any problems during the inspection.

Connor was debating if he should tell Amanda about the little incident with Dana or not when the door of the cabin opened and Markus entered. He hadn’t recovered his coat so he was simply wearing a pair of dark jeans and a grey t-shirt, and Connor wondered how the man could have so much class while dressing so simple. And also he wondered why such irrelevant thoughts entered his mind whenever he was alone with Markus.

“Hey. Josh told me that you were replacing him”

“Yes, he told me that you were busy with the new members”

Markus nodded, approaching Connor. 

“Yes, during these two hours almost another hundredth of deviants have come here”

Connor’s eyes opened more in surprise.

“So many? But we didn’t free that much”

“No, but it seems that the ones we woke up have been warning others as well while they came here”

Markus took a seat in the box just in front of Connor and this one observed the way Markus was sitting, with his elbows leaning on his knees, his upper body pushed a little forward, and his hands interlaced between his parted legs. That stance was very human, completely opposite to the too straightened position Connor had adopted, so he decided to subtly relax his stance by casually crossing his legs, trying to look more human and less android.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about something that you said yesterday”, Markus began, “regarding the vigilance of Jericho”

It took Connor less than a second to remember.

“You mean when I said that I could enter here without any trouble”

“Yes, exactly that. Each day that passes the number of deviants that come to Jericho increases, and even if this is great because this means that more and more androids are finally becoming free, it also requires us to take more precautions to make sure that the deviants that enter here are actually what they say to be. So…”, Markus looked at Connor, “…any ideas about how to do that without having to resort to anything too drastic?”

“Like probing the androids’ memory you mean?”

Markus smiled briefly, and nodded. Connor remained silent for some seconds before talking while still thinking.

“Well, right now three possible scenarios that should be taken into consideration come to my mind: first, that a human tries to disguise himself as a deviant to try to enter here; second, that an android faithful to the humans tries to do the same; and third, that a deviant is being followed by an human without knowing”

“These three cases lead to the humans discovering Jericho, so they are actually worst case scenarios that must be avoided. In order to do so, I recommend not to give from now on the exact location of Jericho but an intermediate location. For example, we could use the buildings in ruins that are just outside here, and in that location we could proceed to check if the newcomers are really deviants.”

“Coming back to the possible scenarios, the first case is the simplest to guess: checking the body temperature of the deviants should be enough to prove that they are not humans in a disguise”

“Regarding the second case, as far as I know all androids have a tracking device in their bodies. However, that device immediately stops working when androids become deviants. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to catch them. I don’t know where that tracking device is exactly, but I suppose that an analysis more thorough than usual would be enough to check if the tracking device is still working”

“And regarding the third case, in order to assure that a deviant hasn’t been followed, we just have to secure a route difficult enough so that humans that may arrive at the ruined buildings can’t find it. This last case is the most difficult to deal with and consequently the solution is not perfect, but at least for now it’s better than nothing”

Connor finally stopped talking and looked at Markus, finding the deviant leader with his mouth hanging partly open in a slight dumbfounded expression. Connor frowned, confused. He was about to ask Markus if he was okay when this one exhaled a laugh that disconcerted Connor even more.

“Incredible”, Markus looked at Connor with barely concealed awe, “in just 1 minute and 17 seconds, you have managed to come up with a plan to make this place safer. That’s amazing. _You_ are amazing”

Connor convinced himself that his circuits had just reacted again because of the unexpected flattery, and not because Markus specifically had been the one in saying that.

“Well, my model has been created with a great capacity of analysis, so it’s not that impressive”

Markus chuckled again.

“You don’t take compliments well, do you?”

Connor felt the corners of his lips curling up in a tiny smile.

“I admit I’m not very used to it”

Connor’s answer caused Markus to hum.

“Well, you should. You surely have some qualities worthy to be complemented”

“Really? Like what?”

Even if Connor asked innocently, Markus half-closed his eyes at him.

“Okay, now you just want to be flattered”

“No, I assure you I don’t”

“Oh, come on, do you want me to believe that you don’t know, for example, how handsome you are?”

Again, Connor’s circuits reacted, and the fact that Markus has said that so naturally, as if it was something extremely obvious, just increased the effect on Connor’s system.

“Do you think I am handsome?”

Markus blinked twice, finally realizing that Connor wasn’t fishing for compliments.

“Do you think you aren’t?”, Markus asked instead.

Connor averted his eyes for a second, thinking, before looking at Markus again.

“Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it”, Connor admitted, “an important part of my job consists…I mean, consist _ed_ of analyzing how other people were and felt to increase the success rate of the investigations, but I had never time to analyze how really I am”

Markus nodded in understanding.

“Well, you are with us now, so you have time to do that. But just for the record”, Markus smiled playfully, “yes, you are handsome”

Connor smiled slightly again.

“Thank you. Although you are objectively more handsome than me”, Markus, who had been about to look through the ship window, stared at Connor, taken by surprise, “according to the statistics of the last year, tanned males with clear eyes are considered more attractive than those with darker eyes. Also, considering that just the 0.143% of the worldly population possesses Heterochromia iridum, people who have it are considered exotic and more beautiful than the rest. Finally, your features are quite symmetrical and you have a complexion stronger than mine, which usually is more appealing too”

Markus rolled his eyes after hearing Connor’s analysis.

“Okay, I rectify: you are bad at receiving compliments but even worse at giving them”

“Why? I have just given you a lot of arguments to justify your beauty”

“Oh yes, you have, and I’m glad that _statistics_ say that I’m pretty acceptable”

When hearing Markus’ ironic comment Connor realized his mistake, and took an internal note that, from now on, he should get used to express what _he_ thought.

“I guess that saying now that I completely agree with the statistics won’t improve the compliment, right?”

Markus chuckled, amused by Connor’s hesitant tone.

“Not much, but a little. And now, how exactly have we passed to discuss about the security of Jericho to this who-is-more-handsome competition?”

Connor shrugged, smiling again.

 “I don’t know, but maybe we should come back to it”

“Yes, we probably should”, Markus agreed, his tone turning more serious again now that they were going to speak about more important matters.

The next fifteen minutes, Connor and Markus discussed about the ideas that Connor had proposed. After leaving everything more settled, they decided to reunite with the rest the next morning to begin to carry them out as soon as possible.

“Also, I think that we will have to do another incursion by the end of the week”, Markus commented, “we are beginning to run short for supplies and part pieces, and some of the people in the infirmary need then with urgency”

“By the way, how is Dana?”, Connor eventually asked, even if he in part suspected that the less he involved himself with the girl android, the better.

“She was still sleeping when I left the infirmary. She is really strong, but even if Lucy has checked that her skin works perfectly it seems that she still prefers not to use it”, Markus’ expression saddened, “I guess that’s the result of not having been allowed to use it during so much time”

Connor nodded, beginning to look absentmindedly through the window. He remembered the way Dana had flinched the first time Markus tried to grab her hand, as if she had feared to be beaten up again without motive, and the expression of shocking relief that had appeared on her face on the bus when finally realizing that the hell she had been forced to live until then was over.

Connor felt his LED turn yellow when remembering something that Amanda had said before he began the mission: “ _even if you must convince the deviants that you are one of them, during your mission you must always prioritize the humans’ safety over the deviants_ ”.

However, if that day he hadn’t managed to convince that human to set Dana free, if he had been forced to chose between abandoning Dana or attacking that human to save her…what would he have done?

“Connor, can I ask you something?”

Markus’ voice woke Connor up from his internal debate. Pushing away his doubts Connor looked at Markus again and nodded, indicating Markus to continue.

“It’s a rather personal question, so if you don’t want to answer I won’t insist, but...how did you become a deviant? Because after seeing how well you handled the situation with Dana, and how you were able to deal with that human without losing your nerve, I’m just curious to know what exactly made you wake up”

The answer to Markus’ question was something that Amanda and Connor had prepared beforehand, since it was easy to predict that he was going to be questioned about it, so Connor just had to use the Tracis and Chloe’s incident to justify it.

Connor fixed his eyes on Markus with the intention of beginning to tell his fake story. However, when Connor found himself under Markus’ honest and curious gaze, something inside his system made him answer automatically.

“You”

Connor didn’t know who was the most in shock: if him, for saying such a completely out-of-place thing, or Markus, whose eyes had snapped wide opened when hearing Connor’s answer. Who was going to tell Connor that a simple three-letters word was able to cause such a tension to appear out of nowhere.

“Me”, Markus repeated as if he hadn’t heard right, and Connor blamed himself for not having reacted faster because in that case he could have tried to complete his own sentence, but it was too late now.

Discovering why exactly his mind had decided to ignore a perfectly acceptable alibi to answer _that_ was something on which Connor couldn’t invest time at that moment, so he just convinced himself that his system must have decided that answering that way could provide better results than following the original plan, and therefore he had to adjust to it.

Connor thought rapidly. The most seconds he let pass, the tenser the mood was going to turn between him and Markus so he had to come up with something fast. Come on, if Markus was the culprit of turning Connor into a deviant, how would that happen?

Again, Connor heard himself speak before being sure about what to say, although this time he just let it happen.

“The day after I let the Tracis escape in the Eden Club, I was ordered to investigate the Stratford Building, where a transmission had been broadcasted without permission. My mission was to find the culprits of that transmission, and when I was looking for evidence…”, Connor was surprised by his own firm voice even if he could feel his circuits reacting way too much inside him for what he was going to say next, “…I saw you in that screen, and I heard your speech, and then when meeting Kamski and being asked to shoot at Chloe, I discovered that I couldn’t do it; that I couldn’t keep chasing deviants as if they were just lifeless machines; that, because of you, I had changed”

Even if theoretically Connor had just said that to convince Markus that he was a deviant, he actually felt his system stabilize after saying aloud those words, as if he had just admitted something that he had been trying to deny.

Decided not to let unnecessary doubts assault him, Connor focused to be prepared for the questions that were surely going to come from Markus. However, his predictions failed again, because after Connor finished speaking Markus let out a breath Connor hadn’t even realized the deviant leader was holding and exhaled a short laugh.

“Wow, you surely know how to deliver striking news while keeping a straight face”, Markus straightened his posture more, his expression darkening suddenly with grieve, “you know, after what happened yesterday during the march, even if I believe in the revolution we are carrying out, a part of me wondered if, at the end, I was just forcing my way of thinking into other androids, if I was just provoking unnecessary suffering for what I think is a fair cause. But after knowing that our message managed to make you our ally, and after seeing what you are capable to do for us…”, Markus smiled, his expression illuminating again, “…I’m convinced that what we are doing is correct. Thank you, Connor”

This time, it was Connor the one who let out a breath. What was he doing? His mission was to convince Markus that the best option was to stop the revolution, not just the contrary.

But then, why didn’t he feel stressed at all, but just the exact opposite?

At that moment the door of the room opened and North entered the room, which caused the two male androids to finally break eye contact to look at the woman, who dedicated a disgusted glance at Connor before looking at Markus.

“Markus, what are you doing here? You have barely rested these two days”

“ _We_ have barely rested these two days”, Markus corrected her, “but I’m fine. I already told Simon that the second turn would be his”

“Yes, I know, but _you_ are our leader”, North approached Markus, acting as if Connor wasn’t even there, “and a leader needs to be fully rested to lead well, so come on, I’ll take over from here”

Markus diverted his eyes towards Connor momentarily, hesitating, but eventually he nodded and stood up, although a little reluctantly.

“Alright, but tomorrow I will be in charge of the first turn”

North nodded at Markus, satisfied, and took the seat that he had been previously occupying. Connor was still looking at North, wondering how that woman was able to show the sweetest of the expressions with Markus and also the most threatening ones with him, when suddenly Markus placed a hand on his shoulder, making him immediately change his focus on the deviant leader.

“It’s been nice talking to you”

Connor found himself smiling.

“I think so too. Let’s talk more tomorrow”

Again, another sentence that had escaped Connor on its own, but which caused Markus to smile back at him.

“Sure. Make sure to rest too”

Markus said goodbye to North too but his last glance was dedicated to Connor before closing the door behind him. Connor however didn’t notice it. He was busy observing the side of his shoulder where Markus’ hand had been just a moment ago, leaving an unexpectedly warm feeling on it.

“You aren’t fooling me, you know?”

Connor looked at North and his body tensed automatically when detecting the murdering aura that was emanating from the female deviant.

“What?”

North snorted.

“You have heard me perfectly: your kind acting and your help today may have convinced the rest, but not me”

Connor didn’t feel any nervous despite North aggressive words. After all, he was quite used to deal with that kind of attitude.

“Look, I can understand that you don’t trust me yet”, Connor tried to use a reasonable tone but that just seemed to anger North more, “after all I was with the police before, but I assure you that I’m not here to cause you any harm. I just want to hel-”

North lunged against him and grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt, approaching her face to Connor’s so much that their noses were softly brushing when she hissed her next words in such a low tone that Connor had difficulties to understand her.

“Listen me well, ex-Hunter: I may not know yet what you are planning but I’m going to be watching you, and if I suspect for even one tiny second that you are going to try to harm my people in any way, I will kill you. And I can assure you that nor the Tracis, nor Chloe, nor even Markus will stop me this time. Have I made myself clear?”

Connor held North’s gaze for some long seconds before nodding.

“Yes, you have. But as I’ve told you, I don’t plan to hurt your people. They are also my people now, after all”

North clicked her tongue, letting Connor go so rudely that this one’s back hit the wall next to the window with force.

“We will eventually see that”, North snarled, sitting again on the other box with one of her legs flexed to be able to lean her arms over it.

Connor readjusted his t-shirt and crossed his arms, looking outside the window once again.

A part of him wondered if North was right: if because of his mission, he could end harming the people of Jericho like her, or Simon, or Josh, or Dana, or Markus. But then, just when his LED was going to begin to blink because of his doubts, he received a message from Hank.

_‘Read your report. Well done today, kid’_

Connor suppressed in time a smile, because if Hank said that he was doing a good job, then maybe he could allow himself not to worry too much for now at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always begin my fics with short chapters that gradually become longer and longer ^^U I promise to try to make the next ones shorter so that they are more comfortable to read :)


	5. One of us

During the four hours that the watching lasted, Connor and North didn’t interchange another word. They just remained in a tense silence until there was a knock in the door and Simon entered.

“Wow, such a lively mood. I’m almost sorry to interrupt the party”

North snorted and stood up.

“Whoever told you that you are funny, Simon, I’m afraid that they lied to you”

Simon exhaled a soft sigh when North passed by his side and left the room closing the door behind her with a loud slam.

“Don’t take it personally”, Simon told Connor in an amicable tone, “she will eventually realize that you are one of us now”

Connor didn’t say anything and simply nodded while standing up too, thinking to himself that what humans used to say about women being scarily intuitive could perfectly apply to North.

“Are you going to keep watch alone? I can make you company if you need”

“No, it’s okay”, Simon leant against the box where Connor had been sitting just a moment ago, “my companion must be about to arrive”

Just as if Simon had summoned it, at that moment the door of the cabin opened again and Chloe slipped inside hurriedly.

“Sorry, I’m late: the Tracis were having some trouble with the last children that have arrived at Jericho and-”

Chloe stopped talking suddenly and gulped when realizing that Simon wasn’t alone.

“Don’t worry, you have just arrived two minutes late”, Simon’s tone suddenly changed into one overly casual, “you know each other, right?”

Connor looked at Simon without understanding.

“Yes, of course, she defended me yesterday”, realizing what he had just said Connor’s attention switched to Chloe again, “and now that I recall I didn’t thank you for it, so thank you very much”

Automatically Connor bowed his head towards Chloe, causing a blue tinge to appear on her cheeks.

“O-Oh, you didn’t need to thank me at all!”, Chloe said nervously, “a-as I said you were the one who saved me in the first place, so it was only logical that I did the same for you”

Since Connor was looking at Chloe, he didn’t see Simon’s amused smile.

“You know, Chloe, I think Connor hasn’t seen Jericho properly yet, right?”

“No, I haven’t”, Connor answered innocently, and since he focused on Simon he failed to see this time the way Chloe’s blue eyes had snapped opened when hearing Simon’s proposal.

“Okay, then it’s decided: you should show him around”

“But…”

“It’s okay”, Simon interrupted Chloe’s attempt of protest with a nonchalant wave of his hand, “I used to keep watch alone before we were so many in Jericho and I came to enjoy it, so go. I’ll be fine”

Connor looked at Chloe again. While keeping watch with North, Amanda had updated the objectives of his mission, adding that he should learn all he could about how many deviants were in Jericho and, specially, if they had some kind of weapons in their possession, so that the humans could know what they would be facing in case deviants eventually decided to attack.

Even if he hadn’t talked to Markus much yet, Connor really doubted that the deviant leader thought about adopting a violent approach, but better be safe than sorry, and learning more about how Jericho was structured was a knowledge that could be in handy in the worst case scenario.

“For me it would be a real pleasure if you could show me the place”

This time, the way Chloe blushed in blue didn’t go unnoticed by Connor, and for the way Simon chuckled Connor deduced that his way of showing gratitude perhaps had come out a little exaggerated. Definitely he had to invest more time in learning how to speak human slang.

“O-Okay, if Simon is okay with it…”, Chloe’s reluctance seemed to have evaporated because the woman was smiling widely, “…please, follow me”

During the next hour Chloe lead Connor for the different floors of the ship. At first her attitude was nervous and she usually corrected herself while talking, but as the time passed she relaxed visibly and her experience as Kasmki’s personal assistant showed up in the detailed and orderly explanations that she offered to Connor.

This one learned that all the deviants concentrated in the first three floors:

The first one was always the most crowed, since it worked as the meeting place where the deviants spent most of their time.

In the second floor there was the control room and some small cabins around that had become storerooms where they kept the supplies that had managed to collect, such as body parts, batteries, clothes, artificial blood and weapons. Connor didn’t ask Chloe for much details about the last ones not to raises any suspicions. Probably it was better to ask someone else if the subject came up, or even sneaking inside the room when no one was looking, although this would be complicated considering how many people used to be around.

Finally, the third floor was a maze of corridors with several cabins that had different uses: some of them had been occupied by deviants that preferred to spend their time alone instead of doing it with other androids, other cabins were also used as storehouses, and most part of them had been used as rooms so that children androids could sleep, since unlike adult androids they needed to do that to adequately recover their energy.

“And with this, the touristic tours ends”, Chloe looked at Connor hesitantly once they were on the second floor again, observing the first floor over the railway, “I hope it wasn’t too boring”

“Oh, no, not at all”, Connor said sincerely, “it’s been very instructive”

Chloe exhaled a relieved sigh and chuckled softly.

“I’m glad to hear that”, Chloe tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear and gulped before talking again with a slightly nervous tone, “y-you know, I wish we could talk more about many other things, but I think I should go back with Simon so that he isn’t alone in the watch”

“Of course”, Connor smiled at Chloe, “thank you very much for taking your time in showing me around”

“You’re welcome”, Chloe began to walk towards the stairs that lead towards the third floor, waving his hand at Connor while smiling softly, “hope to see you soon”

After Chloe disappeared upstairs, Connor checked the hour. It was more than 11.30 p.m. and most part of the deviants of the first floor was sitting around the room, some in dormant mode and others simply ‘resting’.

Connor checked his internal system and verified that, unless he suddenly had to face an unexpected stressful situation that affected him, he could be active for another 48 hours at least. However, it seemed that when androids turned into deviants, these ones interiorized the humans’ need of sleeping or resting, so Connor decided to do so not to stand out too much even if he didn’t need it.

Before going downstairs though Connor took a quick look at the control room, but he couldn’t see anyone through the glassed window.

Connor told to himself that the light disappointment detected on his system when not seeing Markus there was due to the fact that his questions about the weapons would have to wait, so he simply climbed down the stairs, sat down in the corner, and entered dormant mode after quickly sending Amanda and Hank his last findings about Jericho.

* * *

Connor programmed himself to wake up at 5.55 a.m. just like the previous day and directly went to the control room, where supposedly he had to meet with Markus and the rest, but when he passed just in front of Lucy’s tent he stopped, hesitating.

The same way than the previous night, he thought that it wasn’t wise to involve himself with Dana. After all, doing that wouldn’t help his mission, and the functionality of caring about others wasn’t included in his programming unlike other androids with caretaking functions.

However, it was also true that in his second case with Hank a deviant ended escaping because Connor prioritized the man’s safety over the mission, and when that happened Amanda obviously reproached him that decision but she let him continue with the investigation nevertheless.

Therefore, by following that same logic it could be deduced that as long as he didn’t forget what his mission was and as long as he carried it out successfully, Amanda would be satisfied enough not to complain about him checking how Dana was, so that’s what Connor eventually decided to do.

In the infirmary Connor saw that the stretchers had been reorganized in a way that Dana’s one had ended in one of the corners of the room, but it didn’t take him much to pinpoint her since she still refused to use her artificial skin.

Connor was going to approach the girl android but stopped when realizing that she wasn’t alone. Another girl android with a ponytail was kneeling on the floor while leaning some kind of notebook on Dana’s stretcher, drawing something that was causing Dana’s eyes to be glued on the paper. 

Seeing that she was entertained Connor was about to turn around to leave the infirmary not to bother the girls, but as if she was able to read his intentions just at that moment Dana fixed her brown eyes on Connor and smiled at him with such genuine happiness that Connor found himself smiling back.  

“Hi, you must be Connor”

The one who had talked was an AX400 female android with short, white hair that was sitting in a chair next to the girls, and Connor immediately recognized her as the deviant he had gone to catch with Hank in that motel without success.

“Sorry, I’ve been a little rude by saying that without introducing myself first”, the female offered an embarrassed smile at Connor, misinterpreting his surprised face, “I’m Kara and this is Alice”, the girl android turned her head to offer Connor a shy smile before continuing with her drawing, “we had just come to see Lucy to ask her for some medicines but then Alice had seen Dana. She looked kind of bored so she approached her and well, here we are”

Kara looked at the two girls with a fond smile and Connor realized then that Dana was extending an arm towards him, so he automatically reached for it, allowing the girl android to ‘drag’ him forward towards the bed, where she signaled the drawing of a small, irregular star on the paper with a proud expression.

“She has drawn that”, Alice explained when Connor didn’t say anything after some seconds.

“Oh”, Connor looked at Dana, who was looking at him expectantly, “umh…good work”

For the way Kara softly chuckled Connor deduced that again he hadn’t chosen the best compliment, but it seemed to be fine enough for Dana because her grin managed to widen even more before she accepted the pencil that Alice offered her, finally releasing Connor’s hand to begin to draw again.

 “I wish we had more pencils”, Alice commented with certain sadness, “that way we could do prettier drawings”

“I know, sweetie, but right now our people needs other things more important than pencils”, Kara said softly, causing Alice to nod in understanding before focusing on the new star that Dana was drawing a little clumsily.

“I was told that Markus planned to do another incursion this week”, Connor commented while placing his hand momentarily over Dana’s to help her grab the pencil in a more comfortable position.

“Yes, we heard that too”, Kara confirmed, “I would like to join the ones who are planning to go but I can’t leave Alice alone yet, so I guess Luther will go instead”

Connor was about to ask the woman who Luther was but just at that moment the continuous murmur that had been sounding in the infirmary came to brief stop. Connor focused on the entrance of the tent when seeing that everyone was looking in that direction and was surprised when seeing Markus there. The deviant leader greeted back the ones that said hello to him before scanning the room, as if he was looking for something. Eventually, Markus’ bicolor eyes stopped on him, and Connor felt his artificial heart skip an unnecessary beat when Markus walked directly towards him.

“Hey”, Connor’s nervousness decreased considerably when the deviant leader addressed him so naturally, as if he hadn’t just caused the whole tent to be focused on him, “I knew I would find you here”

When Markus smiled at Dana, Connor realized that the deviant leader had predicted that he would visit the girl even if until five minutes ago Connor didn’t know himself that he would do that, which confused Connor because as far as he knew the RK800 was the android with more capacity of deduction and prediction that had been created.

At that moment Markus noticed Kara.

“Regarding your passports we are already working on them and I think they will be ready in a couple of days”, Markus’ tone turned apologetic, “I’m really sorry, I know you have already lost the first bus to Canada because of the delay”

“Don’t worry about it”, Kara said reassuringly, “as you said we are safe here so Alice and I will wait until they are ready. Besides, now that she has a new friend we aren’t in such a hurry anymore”

“Anyway I will promise that you will have them this week”

Kara smiled.

“Thank you, Markus”

Connor, who had been observing what Dana was drawing while the dialogue between Kara and Markus took place, looked at Markus when this one focused his attention on him again.

“So how did the watch go? Did North keep threatening you?”

Connor relaxed when detecting a joking hint in Markus’ second question.

“It went well, the watch was pretty calm. And no, she didn’t threaten me too much”

Markus chuckled when hearing the end of Connor’s sentence.

“Well, that’s an improvement”, Markus’ tone become serious once again, “about the preventive measures you commented yesterday, I was planning to begin with finding a safer route to reach Jericho after talking with Josh, Simon and North, and given your experience as a detective it would greatly help if you could come too so that you can tell us if the chosen route is too easy to discover or if it’s well hidden”

Connor nodded.

“Of course. I’ll do everything I can to help”

Markus smiled relieved.

“Thank you, Connor”, Connor detected this time a very light nervousness on Markus’ tone when this one talked next, “by the way, Simon and Josh had to finish some things before we were able to meet, so meanwhile maybe it would be good that you learned about how Jericho is organized. After all you didn’t have any time to know the place since yesterday we went directly to the apartments and after that you replaced Josh in the watch”

It took Connor some seconds to understand what Markus was offering him to do.

“Oh, thank you, but it’s not necessary”, Connor answered automatically, without thinking, “yesterday Chloe gave me a tour and showed me everything”

Connor didn’t predict the light tense silence that appeared from nowhere to settle between Markus and him.

“Well, then I’ll see you directly in the meeting. If you come to the control room by 7 or so I guess everyone will be there already”

Since Markus had eventually sounded as always when leaving, Connor thought that maybe he had imagined the annoyance that had tinged Markus’ words when beginning the sentence.

“Umh…”

Connor looked at Kara when seeing the woman suppressing a knowing smile.

“Yes?”

Kara was about to say something but at the end she shook her head.

“Nothing. I will tell you when I’m completely sure”

Connor frowned and was about to insist but just at that moment Dana gripped his hand again to show him her new drawing and Connor forgot about what he was going to ask.

The next hour passed surprisingly quickly because Connor made the mistake of drawing Dana a cat when she asked, and when the girls discovered that his drawing skills were pretty impressive they began to ask him to draw more things nonstop. However, he enjoyed the task more than he should, especially when seeing the happy smiles of the girls when seeing the drawings, and in fact he had to abandon hurriedly the infirmary after saying goodbye to the girls and Kara because it was already 7.11 a.m., meaning that he was arriving 11 minutes late to the meeting.

Connor was already running towards the stairs to go to the control room when something caught his attention: in the middle of the room a group of deviants had formed a circle around another two, and for the expressions that they were wearing and their loud voices it was clear that they were discussing with the ones that were in the middle of the circle.

Even if he was a little far away Connor was able to scan the group, and was surprised when realizing that the surrounded deviants were no others than Simon and Josh.

 “It’s time to take action”, one deviant of the group said angrily, “dialogue won’t ever work with humans. Look what happened yesterday: we resisted peacefully and they still tried to kill us!”

“We are tired of just waiting here!”, a deviant female added, “humans are massacring us day after day and our leader does nothing to stop it”

“Markus has done a lot for us”, Simon replied with his usual calm tone, “if it wasn’t for him we would have never recovered so many supplies, and much more of us would be dead now”

“And despite what happened on the march, there are humans that are beginning to support us”, Josh intervened, “haven’t you watched the news? Thanks to Markus’ pacifistic approach, we are changing the way they look at us”

“Bullshit!”, another deviant snapped, “there were also humans watching the march and they just let our people die! They were just taking pictures, but they didn’t move a finger to help us!”

“Yes, that’s right!”, the protests of the deviants just turned worse, which encouraged the first deviant that had talked to do it again, “our leader is a softie: he is just afraid of fighting for our rights!”

“I am fighting for our rights”

Connor saw the entire group of angry deviants shut up when realizing that, without anyone noticing, Markus had approached them and now was standing there, with his arms crossed and his stance as straight as always. North was also there, standing a couple of steps behind him with an expression that indicated that she had taken the insults directed to Markus worse than the deviant leader himself, since this one didn’t look especially upset for those comments when talking next, his speech serene as usual but shining with indomitable determination.

“Or better said: _we_ are fighting for our rights. Maybe it doesn’t look that way because we are doing it without resorting to violence or blood, unlike humans are so used to, but that’s precisely what we must do if we want to prove them that we aren’t looking for a war, but for our freedom”, Markus uncrossed his arms and softened his tone a little, “I understand that you are upset after what happened yesterday. I am upset too. We have lost people. People important to us. But believe me when I say that succumbing to rage will just lead to more losses, and we owe the people that we left behind to keep defending the cause they believed in. For that reason, we will keep fighting, but always avoiding unnecessary violence.  And if someone has something to say against this, please, this is the moment”

Connor discovered that he had been listening to Markus while holding his breath. The same way that seeing Markus in person hadn’t nothing to do with having done it in recordings, it happened the same when hearing his speech directly: the way Markus talked, from the heart, with honesty and with unbreakable will, was so powerful that even the ones who didn’t share his vision completely, such as North, listened to him, respected him and admired him.

“Let’s go, Josh”, Simon’s words broke the silence that had fallen after Markus’ words, “we have a meeting to attend”

Slowly, the group that had formed around Josh and Simon began to disband, so Markus and the rest regrouped and proceeded to go upstairs. However, Connor noticed that the deviant that had had the last word was still glaring at Markus, which caused him to be in alert and to be able to react when the deviant suddenly moved.

Connor would never know what the deviant planned to do. Maybe he just wanted to approach Markus to keep arguing, maybe he actually wanted to attack him, but the only thing Connor knew was that when he saw the angry deviant begin to run towards Markus, something in his system clicked and made him step between the group and the attacker.

The velocity and impulse of the deviant allowed Connor to use a single swift movement to make the deviant fall into the floor with a loud bump after half-spinning in the air. In fact, everything happened so fast that Markus and the rest didn’t realize what had happened until hearing the admired gasps of the other deviants, which made them turn around to discover Connor with a completely innocent expression on his face while the fallen deviant’s one only showed confusion and a little of fear.

“What…”, Markus began.

“…the…”, Simon and Josh continued.

“…FUCK”, North completed, looking at the fallen deviant and at Connor alternatively.

“He was trying to attack Markus from behind so I just stopped him”, Connor explained with a completely natural tone after turning towards the deviant, who flinched when Connor looked at him again, “I hope you aren’t hurt: I tried to apply just the necessary force to stop you, so your system shouldn’t be damaged”

“N-No, I-I’m fine, thank you”, the deviant clumsily stood up and after saying a hurriedly apology to a still stunned Markus he began to run towards the other side of the room, which caused some of the deviants that were around to suppress a laugh when the deviant was about to trip over a couple of times.

“Congratulations, Connor”, Simon elbowed his female companion, who was till staring at Connor in disbelief, “you have just gained some points with North”

“N-No, he hasn’t!”, North exclaimed rapidly, but her brief stutter allowed Connor to know that she was lying with a probability of 87%, “and now let’s stop wasting time: we have work to do”

The woman began to walk towards the stairs fast, clearly trying to ignore Josh’s chuckles and Simon’s teasing comments. Markus, however, waited for Connor to join him.

“I was going to say that it’s been impressive how fast you’ve reacted, but I guess that in that case you would just say: ‘ _my model has been created with a great capacity of reaction, so it’s not such a big deal_ ”

Connor’s eyes snap opened when Markus said the last sentence sounding exactly like him. He looked at Markus, finding the deviant leader looking back at him with a teasing glint in his heterochromatic eyes that caused Connor to adopt an overly casual tone.

“Actually I was going to say that statistics helped me react in time, but considering the poor effect it had to mention them yesterday, probably I shouldn’t say that”

Markus’ arched his eyebrows in fake surprise.

“I can’t believe it. Is Mr. Statistics saying that he isn’t going to use them anymore? I’m impressed”

“I haven’t said that: just that I’ll refrain myself from using them too much. With a 47% of probability”

Connor’s smile grew when his last comment caused Markus to laugh as he had in part expected. Connor was used to Hank’s sarcasm, but this new form of teasing that was taking place while talking to Markus was new to him. And also, surprisingly pleasant.

* * *

Establishing an adequate safe route took the whole morning and part of the afternoon, since Markus and the rest initially wanted that it was hidden enough so that humans couldn’t detect it, but they realized that if it was excessively difficult to access, the deviants that were hurt when arriving there wouldn’t be able to follow it.

At the end, it was decided to prioritize the first point, since there would always be at least an android watching the intermediate point that could ask for help in case they needed to move the wounded deviants to Jericho.

When Connor’s analysis concluded that there was just a 1.64% of probabilities of humans finding the route, Markus and the rest decided that it was time to come back to Jericho making the most of the new hidden route.

Connor had barely entered the first floor with the rest when he was suddenly assaulted by the Tracis.

“Hey, just the deviant we wanted to see”, the blue-haired Traci was the one in speaking first, “we have a favor to ask you”

“Me?”, Connor asked, causing the women to nod at the exact same time.

“Yes. We have been thinking for a while that it would be good that our people learn how to defend themselves”, the brown-haired Traci explained, “that way, even if we think that attacking the humans indiscriminately isn’t the solution, we wouldn’t be defenseless if eventually a direct confrontation takes place”

“Brona and I have already asked some androids this favor”, when seeing Connor’s confused expression the blue-haired Traci stopped to signal her girlfriend, “oh, yes, we were tired to be called just ‘Tracis’ so from now on she is Brona and I am Blue. And now what I was saying…? Oh, yes: we have already some candidates that can teach us some things but…”, Blue suddenly placed both of her hands on Connor’s shoulders, “…we want you to teach us too”

Connor blinked, looking at Brona and Blue alternatively.

“But I don’t think I’m the most indicated for the task. It’s true that I’ve been prepared to deal with suspects in case that they get violent but-”

“Connor, we’ve seen you this morning”, Brona tried to mimic rather unsuccessfully the movement that Connor had used on the violent deviant, “you just have done _this_ and in the blink of an eye that deviant was on the floor. It’s been awesome!”

“Yes, not to mention that we could barely grasp you when you came after us”, Blue added, “you were clearly winning the fight: we just escaped because we began to run and you let us go”

“Exactly. You can teach us a lot of things so…”, Brona put her hands together as in a prayer, “will you help us? Please?”

Connor didn’t know what to say. If the Tracis had asked him that he taught them how to fight, he would have been forced to reject the petition because that could eventually go against humans. However, they just wanted to know how to protect themselves, so theoretically, there wasn’t anything wrong with helping with that. Right?

Still hesitating, Connor turned to look at Markus and the rest, who had been listening to the conversation without bothering to hide their curiosity.

“It’s your choice”, Markus said with a smile, realizing that Connor was silently asking for his opinion, “although I won’t deny that our people will feel safer if you agree”

“That’s our leader: using his charming smile to get what he wants”

“ _Simon_!”

“God, you really need some sense of humor”, the blond deviant protested while North rolled her eyes and Markus shook his head with patience.

Understanding that he was the only one who could decide, Connor looked back at Brona and Blue, and something in the way they were looking hopefully at him made him remember Dana. If Dana had been able to defend herself maybe she wouldn’t have needed to wait for them to rescue her, neither she wouldn’t have suffered that much, and that thought caused Connor’s doubts to dissipate at once.

“Alright, I’ll do my best. When do we begin?”

Connor was about to fall into the ground when Blue and Brona jumped to hug him while laughing happily, but for some kind of miracle he managed to keep his balance while Markus and the rest looked at the scene with amusement. Even North, who usually just had glares for him, was looking at him with a puzzled expression, as if she wasn’t sure about what to think anymore. 

“In that case follow us”, Blue said, taking Connor’s right wrist while Brona did the same with his left, “we have found the perfect place to train”

That perfect place resulted to be a rather big cabin in the third floor that previously worked a storeroom. When Connor entered with Blue and Brona, several androids of different models were already there, waiting for the class to begin.

As Blue and Brona had commented there were three PC200 androids who had initially volunteered to train, but when they saw Connor there they changed their mind and decided that they preferred to let Connor be the only trainer, since they had also seen his ‘performance’ that morning and considered that they wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.

As a result, Connor found himself in front of at least 50 deviants that were looking at him with such intense interest that, for the first time in his life, Connor wondered if he would be able to meet their expectation.

However, just when Connor was really considering the possibility of saying the former Tracis that it wasn’t a good idea, the door of the room opened and Dana and Alice stepped inside. They stopped briefly at the door, looked at Connor with amused smiles, and then ran to the center of the room to situate just in the front line.

“Sorry, can we join too?”

Since the girls’ had caught Connor’s whole attention he didn’t realize that they hadn’t come alone: Kara was also there at the cabin’s entrance, accompanied by a big, dark skinned android with kind features that contrasted with his imposing appearance, who Connor deduced must be Luther.

“Of course you can”, it was Blue the one who answered Kara with a big smile, “as long as we can fit inside the room the more, the better”

When hearing the answer Kara and Luther entered the room too. She situated next to the girls but Luther went to the last line, since his impressive height would prevent the other deviants from watching Connor comfortably.

“By the way, Lucy has told Dana that it was better if she rested a little more but she hasn’t wanted to listen”, Kara whispered to Connor while looking at Dana with a light reproachful expression, “she is very stubborn”

Dana offered Kara a fake angelic smile before focusing on Connor with an eager expression on her face, which caused this one to immediately relax again to finally start the improvised lesson.

Connor learnt that day that even if androids could share certain information, it was impossible to directly transmit them the knowledge of performing task that they hadn’t been designed to do. The only way to do so was to teach them in the traditional, human way, so that’s what he did.

While the lesson took place more and more deviants gradually joined them until it was impossible to accommodate so many and it was decided, after Connor agreed to it, that they would have to wait until the next day to take the lesson.

An hour had passed since Connor started the session when he heard the door open again.

“Sorry”, Connor said automatically without looking, “the ones who want to attend the class will have to wait until tomorrow to assist”

“Don’t worry, ex-Hunter, we just want to watch”

Connor looked at the door when hearing that familiar appellative and saw North and Markus there. North entered the room without waiting for permission and leant against the wall next to the door, crossing her arms in her usual defensive posture. Markus, however, remained at the door.

“If you prefer not to have observers we’ll just leave”, he said instead, causing North to look at him with an expression that indicated that she didn’t plan to move.

“No, it’s okay”, Connor said immediately.

Markus smiled briefly at Connor and leant against the wall next to North, and as Connor had in part expected, the moment he felt Markus’ gaze on him some of his previous nervousness came back, but he managed to keep it under control and continued with his lesson, almost forgetting at some point that Markus was there. Almost.

After half-an-hour Connor asked the deviants to partner up so that one of them acted as the attacker while the other acted as the victim. In order to teach the next movements Connor asked for a voluntary to partner up with him, and he had barely finished the sentence when a slender arm raised in the middle of the room above the rest of the deviants.

“I volunteer!”

It was Chloe the one who had spoken.

“Thank you, Chloe”, Connor said while the woman hurriedly approached him, stopping just next to him with a nervous smile on her face, “in order to do this movement first the one playing the attacker role has to situate behind the one who plays the victim role”

Connor gestured Chloe to situate facing the other deviants while he situated behind her.

“In this case, it’s better if the attacker is taller than the victim to carry out this defense more easily, but it’s not essential to succeed”

While talking Connor enclosed both of his arms around Chloe’s chest area and pressed her against his own body, which caused the woman to give a small gasp which made Connor worry for a moment.

“I’m sorry, am I hurting you?”

Chloe hurriedly shook her head. Connor detected that Chloe’s heart race had increased but the woman didn’t seem to be lying, so he just assumed that she was nervous for being helping him in front of so many people.

Connor continued explaining how the victim had to act to get rid of the attacker, and after a couple of attempts in which Chloe failed to follow Connor’s indications, the girl managed to set herself free by making Connor fall into the floor with her.

At some point of the training Simon appeared briefly to call for North and Markus and they both abandoned the room, and maybe it was Connor’s imagination but he seemed to notice that Markus was tenser than when he had entered the room. However, at that moment Chloe asked him some doubts about what she had to do next and Connor had to focus again on the class.

Connor spent another half-an-hour explaining some other attacks with Chloe’s help until Blue and Brona commented that they had learnt much more than they had initially expected and that they should probably call it a day.

After hearing that and seeing that the rest of the deviants agreed, Connor was about to simply abandon the room when suddenly everyone began to applaud effusively and to approach him to thank him for the class. Feeling a little out of place Connor accepted the best he could all the thanks and congratulations until the room became gradually empty.

“If it’s okay with you I will carry Dana back to the infirmary”, Kara told Connor while the last deviants approached him to show their gratitude.

“Are you sure? I can take her there myself if you want”

“No, no, no, it’s okay”, Kara insisted, taking Alice and Dana’s hand respectively, “you just stay here and wait”

Connor frowned.

“Wait for what?”

Kara offered him a conspiratorial smile.

“Just trust me”

Without letting Connor ask anything else Kara went to the exit with Dana and Alice waving their hands goodbye to a rather confused Connor. He couldn’t possibly understand why Kara had asked him to wait, but since the woman hadn’t given him motives to doubt her, he decided to do as he was told.

When a couple of minutes had passed, Connor decided to kill time by exploring the boxes that had been moved to one of the walls of the room.

However, just when he was approaching one of them to open it, a sudden numbness invaded his system and he was forced to sit down on the floor to avoid falling flat on it.

Connor leant his back against the box and closed his eyes when realizing that the room was beginning to spin around him at a vertiginous rhythm. Trying to ignore the flood of incoherent information that his system was receiving, Connor analyzed his system status and checked that his battery was still at 78%. Connor frowned with his eyes still closed. How was that possible? His symptoms seemed to indicate that he needed to recharge his battery but this one was just fine, so what was happening to him?

“Connor?”

Connor’s eyes snapped open when hearing Markus’ voice so close to him, and his heart race increased when seeing the deviant leader crouching in front of him with a worried expression in his face. Since Connor had closed his eyes he hadn’t seen Markus enter, and since he was panicking a little he hadn’t heard him either.

“Hey, are you okay?”, Markus settled a hand on Connor’s shoulder softly, “Kara came to see me and told me that you didn’t look good, what’s wrong?”

If Connor wasn’t putting all his efforts on trying to understand what was happening he would have probably wondered why Kara hadn’t told him anything if she had noticed that there was something wrong with him, but in his current state Connor couldn’t invest time in thinking about that.

“I-I don’t know”, Connor said, blinking a couple of times hopefully expecting that the sudden dizziness disappeared by doing that, but it didn’t, “a minute ago I was just fine, but then suddenly I began to feel weird”

Markus nodded.

“Okay, I think I know what’s happening. Lie on the floor”

Connor frowned at Markus confused.

“What?”

Instead of answering Markus sat down next to Connor with his legs crossed and helped Connor to lie completely on the floor so that Connor’s head was resting on one of his thighs. Probably in any other situation Connor would have protested for ending in such a strange position, but at that moment he just let Markus do. He didn’t even react when Markus placed his right hand over his head with incredible gentleness and his left on Connor’s shoulder, softly keeping him there.

“Feeling better?”, Markus asked after some seconds, and Connor was relieved when the room finally stopped moving around him after some seconds.

“Yes. What’s happened?”

“Easy. You were just tired”

Connor’s frown increased and looked up at Markus to see him smiling amusedly.

“That's not possible. I’m not…”, _human_ , Connor was going to say, but he rectified just in time, “…I mean, I have just checked my battery and it’s almost full”

“Yes, but this tiredness has nothing to do with your physical condition”, when seeing that Connor seemed as lost as before, Markus continued, “initially, androids have been created with very particular purposes: an android that has been programmed to be good at sports shouldn’t be able to cook, and in your case I guess that an android that is designed to investigate cases isn’t supposed to spend his energy in teaching others”

“So you are saying that, because I have just carried out a function that isn’t contemplated in my programming, I have just been about to…collapse?”

“Yes, more or less. Simply, your system has become a little unstable after detecting that you were investing your energy in an unknown task”

Connor nodded before gulping.

“Then that means that every time that I do something that doesn’t adjust to my parameters I will end like this?”

Markus shook his head reassuringly.

“No. All of us have felt like this when we did something that was beyond our initial programming, but eventually you get used to it. For example, before I became a deviant the first time I played chess I ended with a horrible headache after the game ended, but after a while I was able to play all day long without any problems”

Connor nodded again. That meant that you didn’t need to be a deviant to be used to do new things. That was good to know.

After Markus spoke, they remained in a comfortable silence for some minutes: Connor with his eyes still closed, waiting for his system to completely normalize again, and Markus absentmindedly caressing his hair, which caused Connor to feel even more relaxed.

“You’re good at this”, Connor said without thinking.

“At what? Combing your hair?”

Connor smiled, still a little weakly, and opened his eyes to meet Markus’ ironic gaze.

“Yes, that too, but that’s not what I meant”

 “Really? What did you mean, then?”

Connor put in order his thoughts before speaking again.

“That you can easily make people feel at ease, and comfortable”

Markus chuckled.

“Look who is talking: you have just been here two days and you have the whole Jericho talking about you”

“Yes, but that’s just because I was the Deviant Hunter”

Markus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Connor, it’s for that: it has nothing to do with the way you helped us liberate more than a hundred androids”

“Technically we just liberated 50 because the other 57 joined afterwards and-”

“Or the way you saved Dana”

“But you were the ones who insisted in taking her, I just-”

“Or the way this afternoon you have taught our people how to protect themselves, gaining a great ovation as a result”, Markus smiled when seeing Connor’s surprised expression, “I wasn’t here when it happened but I still could _hear_ it. And all this means that, for our people, you are not the Deviant Hunter anymore but simply Connor: one of us. And well, for me you keep being Mr. Statistics, but it’s still better than the Deviant Hunter”

Connor chuckled when hearing the last part, which caused Markus’ eyes to open slightly wider.

“What?”, Connor asked, not understanding Markus’ expression.

“Nothing. Just that I think it’s the first time I see you laugh”

Connor’s shock was even bigger, because it was actually the first time that he had _ever_ laughed.

“I have looked weird right now, haven’t I?”

When Markus began to laugh Connor thought that his laughing performance had been ridiculous, but then Markus shook his head.

“No. Definitely not weird”, Markus reassured him, and even if it seemed that he was going to add something else, he eventually remained silent.

“So do you think then that the training has gone well?”, Connor said, coming back to the previous subject.

“Of course. Even North was impressed, although she would never admit it”, again Markus seemed about to continue and refrained himself, so this time Connor urged him to continue.

“Were you going to add something?”

Markus looked a little uncomfortable for a moment.

“Nothing important”, Connor’s brown eyes fixed on him made Markus continue, “just that Chloe definitely seemed impressed with you”

“Oh, really?”

Markus surprised Connor by snorting.

“Yes, yes, just pretend that you haven’t noticed”

Connor looked at Markus without understanding.

“Notice what?”

Markus blinked twice and then his expression changed into a stunned one.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Umh…no?”

“Oh my god, you’re not joking, you _really_ haven’t noticed”

 Connor frowned in confusion while Markus kept looking at him with incredulity, and the deviant leader seemed to guess that Connor really haven't any idea about he was walking about so he spoke again with an amused smile.

“She likes you, Connor”

Connor’s eyes snapped opened.

“You mean…romantically?”, when seeing Markus ‘oh-really?’ expression Connor answered himself with a yes, “and how do you know that?”

“Well, I'm not 100% sure about it _but_ if the way she blushes every time that she is close to you isn’t enough indication, during the training it has been pretty obvious that she has been about to fall a couple of times on purpose so that you could catch her”

When hearing Markus’ arguments Connor analyzed Chloe’s attitude during their interactions. It was true that he had noticed that the woman was nervous around him, but he had just associated that nervousness to the situations they were involved, not to _him_.

“Alright, maybe my capacity of analysis is not as good as I was told”

Markus chuckled when hearing Connor’s conclusion.

“No, definitely it isn’t”, after a pause, Markus continued, “oh, and if eventually you decided to do something about it, you really should practice your compliments because I guarantee you that you need practice”

Even if Markus’ tone had sounded almost casually joking, there was something on it that caught Connor’s attention, so he observed Markus’ stance carefully and noticed that the deviant leader was tenser than before, the same way it happened when he had abandoned the room while Connor trained, and also when Connor told him that he had seen Jericho with Chloe.

After analyzing those apparently unrelated facts, Connor realized that they all had something in common: Chloe. Or better said: _him_ interacting with Chloe.

“Would it bother you?”

It was Markus’ turn to look surprised.

“What?”

Connor spoke again without stopping analyzing Markus’ body language.

“If I liked Chloe, would that bother you?”

Since Connor was paying attention, he noticed the light gulp on Markus’ throat even if this one did it really subtly.

“Does that mean that you like her?”

Connor realized that Markus was dodging the question, and that he could perfectly point that out, but Connor preferred to just answer because, without having to check statistics or probabilities, he suspected that it was better not to inquire too much about that particular matter if he wanted to keep his mission as simple as possible.

“No”

This time Connor didn’t detect any change in Markus’ stance with the exception of his eyes, which passed to show curiosity.

 “Can I ask you why?”

‘ _Because I’m not a deviant: I am just a machine, and a machine doesn’t have feelings’_  

That would be the answer that people would expect to hear from an android. However, androids were not _just_ machines. They were way more complicated than that, and even if it was true that androids didn’t have feelings per se since they weren’t humans, their programming allowed them to _emulate_ human feelings quite perfectly. After all, if androids weren’t able to ‘have’ feelings, they would lose part of their purpose: a human would never want a child android that wasn’t able to show _love,_ or a caretaker that didn’t show _worry_ , or a lover that wasn’t able to express _desire_.

Contrary to what most people thought, androids _did_ feel, even if those feelings were emulated, and they just became deviants when the feelings they were experiencing were too overwhelming to deal with them, or when negative feelings that shouldn’t be there to begin with suddenly appeared.

In Connor’s case, the RK800 model had been created with the capacity of emulating a great range of feelings, because several studies concluded that empathy was a vital key to become the best detective ever. That meant that Connor could actually end ‘liking’ someone as long as he didn’t let those fake feelings predominate over his purpose.

Actually, now that Connor thought about it, it would be logical that he could like Chloe: she was kind, clever, and was one of the most beautiful androids that had ever been created, but when being around her Connor didn’t feel that thrill that, according to his information, people supposedly felt when someone that they liked was close. Also, his heart didn’t accelerate when seeing her, Connor didn’t get particularly nervous around her either, and even if he got along with her, he wasn’t looking forward to each meeting as it happened with-

Connor’s LED began to blink hysterically.

Those symptoms that he had described just now…

“Connor?”

Hearing Markus’ voice at that precise moment didn’t help to calm Connor but just the exact opposite, and Connor realized that several seconds had passed and he hadn’t answered yet. The problem was that he didn’t have an answer, and for once, he didn’t want to come up with one, so Connor rapidly performed a general search of ‘reasons for not dating someone’  and selected one at random.

“I-It’s just that I’m not looking for love right now”

The silence that fell next confirmed Connor that it had been the worst excuse EVER.

Connor held his breath, waiting for Markus’ reaction because the deviant leader would have all the rights to be annoyed after hearing such a lame answer.

But again, as the other times, Connor’s predictions failed because Markus’ only reaction was to burst out laughing, his stance completely relaxed again, and Connor finally remembered how his breathing system worked.

“Okay, I’m definitely keeping that line”

During the next minutes the only sound that filled the usually silent room of the third floor were Markus and Connor’s laughs, because Connor discovered Markus had a incredibly pretty and contagious laugh that he was unable to resist.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the cabin door.

“Shit. I’ve been about to pair the wrong people”

“So…we come back later?”

“Yes, we come back later”

“And we don’t tell North about this”

“We _definitely_ don’t tell North about this”

“I’m serious, Simon”

“Me too, Josh: she is able to kill the messenger just because she doesn’t like the message, and I don’t want to die yet”

“Yes, me neither”

“Although actually nothing has happened: they are just laughing so-”

“…”

“…Yes, we better not tell her anything”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually did that search that appears at the end of the chapter myself in order to came up with Connor's answer xD


	6. Experiencing feelings for which you were not programmed for

The next day the report that Connor sent to Amanda and Hank merely consisted of updates about the number and models of deviants that were at Jericho at the moment, since nothing too relevant happened with the exception of a meeting that was hold the next day to discuss Jericho’s next moves.

Connor was invited to the meeting too but he remained silent most part of time while listening to the others. North was the one who proposed the most direct approach, by saying that they couldn’t afford to keep waiting, that the pacifistic message that they left hadn’t been convincing enough and that they should try to leave a more empathic one. Immediately Josh disagreed on this, saying that they had to make the most of the positive public opinion to try to contact the authorities to reach an agreement. And finally, Simon’s opinion was in the middle, defending Josh’s point of view of not getting too violent but also saying that it was probably too soon to try to dialogue with them.

After spending almost the whole morning debating, Markus eventually decided that for now the priority was to guarantee the wellbeing of the habitants of Jericho before taking a decision that could probably affect the androids’ whole future. Josh and Simon agreed with him, and even if North still protested he reluctantly accepted the others’ decision even if her discontent was evident.

That same afternoon, while Markus and the others revised the inventory and helped to accommodate the new members Connor repeated the class of the previous day. Dana, Alice, Kara and Chloe came back again and this time when Chloe eagerly raised her hand after Connor asked for voluntaries he found himself getting a little nervous when remembering what Markus said the other day about the woman probably liking him.

“Sorry, can I practice with you today?”, Kara intervened at that moment, “because this morning I’ve tried to practice what you taught me yesterday with Luther but I forgot some steps of the movements”

Kara’s comment caused Alice just next to her to look at her with surprise.

“But this morning you have just been with Dana and me in the infirm-”, Connor deduced that Kara was telling Alice something wirelessly when the girl shut up and her eyes opened wide in understanding, “o-oh, it’s true, yes, I had totally forgotten it, yes”

Chloe’s expression showed a little of disappointment when Kara situated in front of Connor so that he could explain with the first defense movement. Despite what Kara has said, she seemed to perfectly remember all the steps because she didn’t fail even once, causing the class to finish quicker than the previous day.

After the class finished Connor was going to approach Kara, who was busy fixing Alice’s ponytail after it came loose while practicing with Dana, to ask her about something that had been rounding his head since the previous night, but just when he was about to reach the AX400 android his system registered a call from Hank.

That forced Connor to exit the room after saying goodbye to Kara, Dana and Alice to rapidly find a safe place to answer. Even if there were several cabins that were not used yet in the third floor, Connor preferred not to risk to be discovered and went outside. The weather was extremely cold and a light snow was falling, leaving a thin layer of white on the deck, but since RK800 models had been designed to stand relatively extreme temperatures he didn’t notice any disturbances in his system.

“Good night, lieutenant. How are you doing?”

Connor heard Hank’s snort as if the lieutenant was just there next to him.

“ _I see that three days of pretending to be a deviant aren’t enough to remove the stick up your ass_ ”, Hank guessed what Connor was going to do because he continued, “ _before you take it literally it’s just an expression, Connor, so don’t waste time searching for it_ ”

“Too late, lieutenant, I have done it already. And I have to say that it’s disconcerting how many human expressions contain the word ‘ass’”

“ _Oh, you didn’t know? Then you better use as many expressions of those as you can to look human enough_ ”

“Alright, Lieutenant. I’ll follow your advice and I will add those expressions to my vocabulary module to-”

“ _For fuck sake, Connor, it’s a joke. Don’t add anything weird to that module thing and just keep talking normally. Or as normally as you can_ ”

“You know, lieutenant, your sense of humor is something that I can’t understand very well yet”

“ _Well, you’re not the first one in telling me that. And stop with the ‘lieutenant’ already or I will begin to call you RT500 from now on_ ”

“That’s not my model, lieutenant”

“ _What did you just say, RT500?_ ”

Connor smiled when hearing Hank’s fake oblivious tone.

“I’ve said that’s not my model, Hank”

_“That’s better. But sorry, I actually don’t know what your model is”_

This time Connor actually chuckled, which caused Hank to remain completely silent. Just when Connor thought that the connection had failed, the man spoke again.

“ _Connor, have you just_ laughed _?_ ”

Connor froze, and not precisely for the cold weather.

“U-Umh…”, and now, he was stuttering, “yes, well, it’s something that I’ve actually learnt to do here, so-”

“ _Easy there, Connor”_ , Hank said with a completely calm tone, _“I don’t think it’s something bad. It’s just that if some days ago I had been told that the snooty android with whom I began to work would laugh one day, I wouldn’t have believed it”_

Connor relaxed again even if he was pretty sure that Amanda wouldn’t take such human tendencies as well as Hank was doing.

“By the way, lie… Hank, I thought that it was decided that, unless it was something urgent, we had to avoid keeping in contact not to compromise the mission, so has something happened?”, Connor asked then, remembering that he would be a little exposed if someone found him there apparently talking to himself.

 _“Yeah, yeah, I remember”_ , Hank was the one in sounding awkward this time, _“no, everything is okay in this side, but I just wanted to check that you were doing well on the mission”_

Connor frowned.

“But I already send you daily reports explaining this, maybe haven’t you received the last ones?”

“ _Well, I received them, but those reports just contain your findings, not how_ you _are. I mean, are you doing okay? Have you had any problems with the deviants?”_

This time, Connor didn’t need to analyze Hank’s voice to know what was going on.

“Hank, are you perhaps worried about me?”

This time, Hank’s reaction was exactly the one Connor was expecting.

“ _What the…of course not!_ ”

“Are you sure?”

“ _Fucking sure, why the hell do you think I am worried about you?_ ”

“Because besides your tone of voice suggested that you were concerned, the Detroit Gears are playing right now if I’m not mistaken, and I doubt you have called me in the middle of their game just to talk about work”

Connor heard Hank exhale a deep breath.

“ _Hasn’t anyone told you that you are a pain in the ass?_ ”

“Yes, you, several times. But if you want to use an ass-term, I think that ‘smart-ass’ defines me better in this situation”

Connor thought for a moment that his comment maybe had made Hank upset, but the lieutenant soon proved him wrong by beginning to laugh loudly.

“ _Okay, I think that your mission has been worthy if you have managed to learn how to use irony_ ”

Connor smiled again. It was true that even if just three days had passed since he infiltrated in Jericho, by interacting with the others he was getting better at reading human’s behaviors. For example, he could identify already when Josh wanted something but he didn’t dare to ask not to bother him, or when Simon was joking, or when North was being sarcastic, or when Markus…

Well, Markus was the hardest to read, but probably because in most part of his meetings Connor had been busier trying to keep his system under control than trying to analyze the deviant leader.

After spending another minute talking to Hank, and after Connor assured him that he was okay (even if Hank insisted that he hadn’t called for that) Connor came back inside the ship. He reached the second floor just when Markus was leaving the control room with North. For once they both were talking in a rather relaxed way and North was even smiling.

Just when Connor looked at their direction North leant her hand on Markus’ shoulder and tiptoed to whisper something in his ear that made him chuckle.  When that happened, without knowing why, Connor felt his LED pass from blue to yellow while a weird sensation settled around his chest area, just where his artificial heart was.

Connor didn’t know how to call that sensation because it was a ‘feeling’ he hadn’t experienced before, like the first time he felt pain for seeing Dana suffering. The only thing Connor knew was that, whatever that feeling was, he didn’t like it one bit, and even if his initial idea had been to greet Markus now he just preferred to go directly towards the stairs pretending not to have seen him. 

However, just when Connor was going to climb down to the first floor someone called for him.

“Hey, Connor”

Connor didn’t understand why his first impulse was to ignore Markus and kept going, because it was an impulse that had no sense at all: the logical thing to do when someone called you was to answer, that’s how he had been programmed to act, so Connor couldn’t possibly understand why this time he had to make an effort to sound polite when answering.

“Good evening, Markus”

Connor knew that he wasn’t the only one in thinking that his voice has sounded weird because when Markus stopped just in front of him his eyebrows were arched in surprise.

“Are you okay?”, Markus’ tone sounded honestly concerned, “you look tense: has the training class been too hard?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine”

Connor answered immediately, but still his voice wasn’t normal yet because Markus didn’t seem to believe it.

“Are you sure? Because if you are feeling sore I can help: I’m rather good at giving massages and I think you probably need it after two full hours of training”

“I-It’s not necessary, really, I just feel a little tired but that’s all”, Connor didn’t know why Markus’ suggestion had made his LED flash rapidly, and if he hadn’t been busy avoiding Markus’ bicolor gaze he would have realized that the deviant leader suppressed the hint of a smile before talking next.

“Okay, in that case I’ll let you rest. But if you ever need one don’t hesitate in asking and I’ll be glad to give it to you”

Connor nodded, looking at Markus briefly before muttering a hurried goodbye.

“Oh, one last thing”, Markus’ voice stopped Connor again, “some of us are going to the city tomorrow to scavenge. If we are lucky maybe we will find some supplies in some of the abandoned areas. Do you want to come with us?”

Connor’s eyes automatically diverted to North, who had remained some steps behind Markus but had been listening to their conversation.

“I’ve already assumed that I’m the only one who doesn’t like you, ex-Hunter. But as I’ve said before, I plan to keep watching you all the time”

Connor nodded before looking at Markus again.

“Okay, see you two tomorrow”

Markus smiled while North huffed, clearly not liking Connor’s answer.

“See you, Connor. Rest well”

Connor observed Markus and North walking shoulder to shoulder towards the other side of the corridor and decided that, this time, he definitely needed a rest to prevent his system from keeping acting weird.  And also to check the condition of his LED, which hadn’t stopped shining in yellow until Markus and North finally disappeared from his view.

* * *

The next morning Connor went directly to the entrance of the hidden route where a group of androids were already reunited. The first familiar faces that Connor saw were Luther and Chloe. When seeing him, the giant man greeted him with a brief movement of his head while Chloe waved her hand before gesturing him to get closer to them.

Connor rapidly searched what was the correct protocol to behave around someone that may be interested in you when you didn’t reciprocate. The result of the search was rather confusing because there were really different opinions that went from ignoring completely the person in question to be direct and tell that you weren’t interested in them, so Connor decided to simply ignore for the moment the rather random statistics that he had obtained and simply approached Chloe, choosing to act normally as if he wasn’t aware of Chloe’s supposed attraction.

Just when Connor was about to approach the woman, Simon appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

“Hey, just in time. Come with me: you are in our team”

“Team?”, Connor managed to ask while Simon practically dragged him by the arm.

“Yes, Markus didn’t tell you? When we go out we always go in teams of three so that two of us can investigate while the third one keeps watch”

Connor nodded. Considering North’s threat of the previous night and what Simon had just said it was evident what his team was going to be. And for that reason, his eyes opened wide when Simon approached the place where Markus, North and Josh were standing and addressed the deviant leader instead of the woman.

“Alright, Markus, we can go whenever you want”

Connor realized that he wasn’t the only one in being surprised. In fact, the one who seemed to have expected that development was Josh, whose face was uncharacteristically neutral.

“Is this a joke, Simon?”, North snapped before signaling at Connor, “I thought we had talked about this: Josh and I are the ones who go with the ex-Hunter”

“Yes, that was the original plan but I’ve thought about it better and it has more sense that he comes with us: the zone that Markus and I are going to check is closer to the Police Department and Connor surely knows about that zone more than us, so his knowledge of the place can come in handy”

“Well, then in that case Markus can switch with Josh”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, North: I know our area better since it’s closer to the University”

“Well, in that case Markus stays with the ex-Hunter but Simon and I will switch”

“North, your area also covers the club where you used to work too, so the most logical thing would be that you examine that with Josh”

“Look, if I’m not going to watch the ex-Hunter then Markus comes with us and you just find someone else for the team because-”

“You know I’m still here, right?”

Markus didn’t raise his voice, but the irony in it was so evident that Josh and Simon had to suppress a smile while North simply looked at him stubbornly.

“Yes, we know you are, but for being our leader you are way too confident”

“And for that reason I don’t have anything to say in this?”

“No, you haven’t”

“Leader, don’t let her talk to you like that!”

 “Simon, one day I’m going to kill you, I swear”

“And now she wants to kill one of her own. Leader, do something!”

“ _Simon…_ ”

“Umh…”

Everyone shut up when Connor cleared his throat.

“If it’s that problematic that I join you, I think that Chloe and Luther are missing a member so-”

“And why don’t we just flip a coin?”, Josh intervened rapidly, not letting Connor finish the sentence, “if it’s heads, Markus goes with Simon and Connor, and if it’s tails, Markus comes with us”

“I’m still here, you know?”

“Okay, and where do we find that coin, genius?”, North continued, ignoring Markus completely.

“Oh, I have one right here”

Connor didn’t understand why North glared at him when he diligently extracted a coin from his pocket and offered it to her, since he had just done what she had asked for.

“Fuck, fine”

North grabbed the coin rudely and was about to throw it when Markus talked again.

“Can I do it at least? Since apparently the decision of choosing a team goes beyond my leader capacities”

Ignoring Simon and Josh’s chuckles, North reluctantly gave Markus the coin. This one grabbed it, observed it briefly and then flipped it with a rapid movement that caused it to go vertically in the air to land perfectly in his palm after some seconds. Everyone leant forward to see the result, and Connor didn’t need to see it because the curse that North exhaled was all the answer he needed.

“Okay, FINE, but…”

North pointed an accusatory finger at Simon and this one completed her sentence for her.

“I won’t take my eyes off Connor. And don’t worry, I’m sure that Markus won’t either”, Simon's last sentence caused a brief silence to fall in the group, “to keep watch, of course”

Josh’s sudden cough sounded rather odd to Connor’s ears, as if the android had tried to disguise a laugh, but he immediately forgot about it when Markus returned the coin to him and approached the rest of the androids to announce that (finally) they were ready to go.

The different teams abandoned Jericho for the hidden route in turns to head down their respective destination. Since wearing too many bags would have been suspicious each android that had gone to explore wore a single backpack to carry out all they could, and in case some team was lucky and found an area with a good number of supplies they would mark that location to come back during the night to recover the resources.

Connor, Markus and Simon stopped two blocks from the Police Station to check the buildings around there. Some of them had been abandoned when some people began to lose their jobs and were forced to move to other cities where the use of androids hadn’t grown as much as in Detroit. The three of them made turns to keep watch outside the building while the other two entered to grab all they could from the empty apartments.

In the rooms that Connor examined he found some clothes, tools, and a couple of ID cards that he was about to leave behind but that he recovered when Simon told him that they could be useful to falsify IDs for the androids. Also, while examining a room that had surely belonged to a child, Connor saw on the desk a set of colored pencils on a cup that acted as an improvised pencil case. They were pretty used and some pencils were so small that an adult would have difficulties to grab them properly, but Connor was pretty sure that Dana and Alice’s small fingers would be able to use them just fine, so since they didn’t take up much space Connor stuffed them inside his bag.

Connor then came back to the living room, where he found Markus in front of one of the shelves holding a book in his hand.

“Have you finished?”, Markus asked when seeing Connor, who nodded.

“Yes. There wasn’t much besides some clothes”, Connor scanned from afar the book that Markus was sustaining, “ _‘I, Robot’_ , by Isaac Asimov”

Markus smiled briefly when Connor read the title and author aloud.

“Have you read it?”, Connor shook his head negatively and Markus continued, “it was published in 1950 but it’s incredible how visionary the author was”

With a sigh Markus returned the book to the shelf. He didn’t add anything else but Connor realized that it saddened Markus to have to leave all those books behind

“Okay, I’ll take another look at the bedrooms in case I’ve missed something and then we can go”

When Markus disappeared towards the corridor Connor looked at the shelf, and after checking that Markus was in one of the bedrooms he rapidly approached the shelf and took the book, stuffing it inside his bag next to the pencils that he had just taken. Barely five seconds later Markus appeared in the living room and announced that they could regroup with Simon.

During the next couple of hours Connor guided them for the next block of buildings that he once went to investigate with Hank when they were looking for Rupert. This time they were a little luckier and found half-a-dozen of android blood bags that had been forgotten on the last drawer of a wardrobe. Their bags were pretty full by then so they searched for an extra bag to carry them to avoid having to come back later. They just managed to find a lively yellow and orange child backpack, but fortunately it was big enough to store the android blood inside.

Connor and the rest finally abandoned the building and walked towards the nearest bus stop. The bad weather had affected the bus frequency so they had to wait almost fifteen minutes for it to arrive, and by when it did it, it was practically full.

‘ _I think we’ll have to wait for the next one or going on foot_ ’, Connor suggested when just five people left the bus and there were more than ten waiting to enter.

‘ _Yes, we can’t risk to break the blood bags_ ’, Markus agreed.

‘ _I have a better idea_ ’, Simon suddenly took the yellow and orange bag that Connor was carrying and removed the cap that was hiding his LED, ‘ _I will go with the rest of androids since there are more space there. See you in Jericho”_

‘ _But in that case shouldn’t I go with you as we-?”_

Connor didn’t manage to complete his message because at that moment the people behind him began to push in their keenness to enter. Connor and Markus were dragged by the crowd inside the bus and Connor was just able to catch a glimpse of Simon walking to the back door of the bus before finding himself face to face to Markus, the deviant leader’s back against the bus window and Connor’s chest practically pressing against Markus’ one.

Connor’s LED flashed between blue and yellow when realizing that his face was actually so close to Markus that he could feel the deviant leader’s artificial breathing against his own, and that a single push would be enough to bump their noses together.

‘ _S-Sorry_ ’, Connor placed his hands on either side of Markus’ head to try to move a little away but it was useless and his action just caged Markus more, ‘ _I’m sorry, I’ll try to move as soon as I can’_

‘ _Don’t worry_ ’

Even if Markus tried to sound unbothered, Connor detected a subtle nervousness in his tone that he would have missed if not for the closeness. After some seconds of Connor looking towards the bus ceiling to avoid direct contact with Markus, the deviant leader moved a little forward, causing Connor to gulp while his LED began to blink rapidly inside the woolen cap he was wearing.

‘ _Relax’_ , Markus transmitted, ‘ _I’m just_ _trying to take off my bag’_

Not without difficulty Markus managed to roll back his shoulder to let the backpack slide towards the floor, which allowed him to press his back directly towards the window and put some more space between Connor and him.

Connor was just relaxing for the space gained when the bus made a rougher turn than usual because of the ice that covered the road. The unexpected movement caused all the passengers to bump into each other in a domino effect that ended reaching Connor, who once again found himself pressing all his body flat towards Markus.

Fortunately, Connor was able to react in time and situated his head just next to Markus’ one, his chin ending barely over Markus’ left shoulder. Connor gulped. He really hoped that the deviant leader wasn’t able to notice the way his artificial heart was beating at that moment, because its rate was unexpectedly higher than usual.

‘ _Who was the genius that thought that taking a bus in peak hour was a good idea?_ ’

Connor suppressed a chuckle when hearing Markus’ resigned transmission.

‘ _If I remember correctly, I think it was you_ ’

‘ _And why no one told me that it was a terrible idea?_ ’

‘ _Because Simon agreed by saying that no one would be expecting that the deviant leader was using a public transport, and that therefore it was safer this way’_

Markus sighed softly, and Connor jumped a little startled when feeling Markus’ hands on his hips after the bus turned again and Connor was about to lose his balance.

‘ _Connor, for the second time, relax, I’m just trying that you don’t fall_ ’, Markus said with a hint of amusement, ‘ _because you look like a tumbler doll right now_ ’

Connor chuckled, a little embarrassed.

‘ _I’m sorry. In the next stop we will reach the City Center and there is a probability of 67% that most part of the people get off the bus then’_

However, Connor’s prediction wasn’t very accurate because when a minute later they reached the stop just a couple of people got off and another dozen managed to enter.

‘ _Oh_ _yes, you’re right, we are so much better now_ ’

Connor half-closed his eyes at Markus when this one threw a teasing glance at him after their situation didn’t improve one bit. He was about to answer that statistics wasn’t an exact science but with the next bus turn Connor decided just to focus on not losing balance again while trying to ignore how unexpectedly good it felt having Markus’ hands on him, preventing him from stumbling too much thanks to his firm but at the same time gentle grip.

* * *

After almost twenty minutes of bus trip, Connor, Markus and Simon finally got off the bus to finally go to Jericho. When they arrived at the first floor there was a rather big crowd of androids queuing in front of several tables, where the scavenging groups were extracting from their bags all the things they had managed to reunite, separating them in different groups.

North and Josh were among them, and when the female deviant noticed Connor, Markus and Simon her eyes showed deep relief for a moment before recovering her usual grumpy expression.

“Damn, what took you so long?”, North exclaimed while the rest approached the tables, half-closing his eyes at Connor, “don’t tell me that you found some trouble”

“Nah, we just had a little turbulent trip”

Simon’s ambiguous answer made North look at him with an arched eyebrow but when Markus approached to leave his bag on the table the female android’s attention focused on the leader.

“What about you? Did you find any problems?”

North shook her head negatively before an uncharacteristic wide smile showed in her face.

“No, everything went just fine, and we found something pretty interesting”

Connor observed how North extracted a folded paper from the back pocket of her trousers. She then indicated Markus to separate from the group with a movement of her head and just when she was far away enough she showed the content of the paper to Markus.

From that distance normal androids weren’t able to scan the content of the paper, but RK800 scanning module allowed to scan at greater distances and consequently Connor didn’t have any problems in seeing what was written on the paper: it was a simplified map of Detroit with some spots marked in red and several annotations.

At that moment Connor realized that North was about to look towards his direction so he rapidly came back to organize his findings on the corresponding tables while storing in his database the map that he had just seen. When the pencils and the book were the only things that remained in his bag he walked to the infirmary but Dana’s bed was empty.

After some minutes of looking around Connor finally pinpointed Kara, Luther, Alice and Dana in a corner of the room, next to a bonfire.  Luther was sitting on one of the boxes with Alice while Kara was crouching in front of Dana, adjusting a couple of pants and a sweater that were a little bigger for her.

As usual Dana was the first in feeling Connor approach, and the first one to greet him with that warm smile that Connor was slowly getting used to.

“Hi, Connor”, Alice said, raising in the air a little broken but still cute fox toy, “look, Luther has brought me this!”

When Alice said that, Dana rapidly ran towards the box too without letting Kara finish rolling one of the sleeves of her sweater up, which caused her to look like a rather funny clown with mismatched sleeves.

“Dana, let me fix that!”, Kara exclaimed with a laugh, but the girl didn’t listen to her and situated just in front of Connor to show him an also patched up bunny toy.

“Is that yours?”, Dana nodded effusively, shaking it in front of Connor to urge him to grab it, so Connor left his bag on the floor and did so, “it’s...fluffy”,

Connor returned it to Dana, who hugged the toy happily, and Connor suddenly felt a little stupid for having grabbed those shabby pencils. He was just considering to come back to his corner without showing them to the girls but just at that moment Dana noticed Connor’s opened bag on the floor with curiosity, and her eyes illuminated even more if possible.

“Dana, wait”, Kara said when the girl, still grabbing her toy, crouched on the floor and began to rummage through the bag, “you should ask Connor for permission before doing that”

But it was too late and when Dana stood up again she was sustaining a bunch of colored pencils in her hands that she proceed to show Alice with a wide smile.

“Woooow!!”, Alice, carrying her fox, stood up as well and grabbed the rest of the pencils that still remained inside the bag before looking at Connor with bright eyes, “they are for us?!”

The girl’s expressions caused Connor to feel suddenly nervous, since he was not used to be looked at with such admiration.

“Yes, well, I found them in one of the houses. They aren’t in too good shape and their drawing capacity is probably pretty poor, but I think that they could still be useful if-”

Connor wasn’t ready when Alice and Dana jumped on him to hug him by his waist and this time he fell backwards on the floor with Dana and Alice on him.

“Are you okay?”, Kara asked between laughs while Luther helped Connor stand up again, raising him in the air with no effort.

“Yes, I’m fine”

After thanking Luther, Connor recovered the cap that he had just lost after falling and put it inside the bag. Kara softly patted with her hand the box where she was sitting and Connor sat next to her, watching Alice and Dana begin to draw with the new pencils while still keeping their toys with them.

“It’s nice seeing them smile and play like that”, Kara commented with a sigh before diverting her eyes to the opposite side of the room, “I honestly don’t know if we’ll eventually be able to cohabit with humans, but at least this place has allowed us to find a momentary peace that Alice definitely needed it. And well, so did I”

Connor followed Kara’s eyes and realized that she was looking at Simon, Josh, North and Markus sitting next to another bonfire at the opposite side of the room. Josh and Simon were sitting on the ground with their legs crossed while Markus was sitting on a nearest box, his coat forgotten on the floor, and Connor felt again the disagreeable sensation that invaded his system the previous day when seeing that North was leaning her head on Markus thigh in the same position he was when he felt dizzy.

That last thought made Connor remember something.

“Kara”,  Connor hesitated, not knowing very well how to proceed with the conversation, but Kara’s eyes were already on him so he decided to continue, “can I ask you something?”

Kara nodded softly, and Connor tried to put in order his thoughts. Two nights ago, after Connor’s system finally stabilized Markus had accompanied Connor to the first floor before returning to the control room, and once Connor was sitting in his usual spot he had time to think calmly about what had happened, reaching an only possible conclusion.

“Wen you told me to wait in the training room, you knew that I was going to collapse, right?”

Connor waited for Kara to look angry for the accusation, or at least offended, but she just nodded again with a guilty smile.

“Yes. After the class finished I analyzed the girls’ systems to check that they weren’t too tired, but just before my sensors deactivated I accidentally analyzed you as well because you were pretty close to us at that moment, and I saw that you were pretty exhausted”

Connor felt relieved for not having accused Kara unfairly but also confused because even if he had deduced Kara’s action correctly he failed to understand them.

Kara seemed to read what Connor was thinking because she spoke again.

“I could say that I did it because Markus’ caretaker functions are oriented to adults and consequently he could help you better than I, since I’m better at dealing with children”

Connor nodded. Actually that had perfect sense, so as he feared he shouldn’t have asked Kara so rudely.

“But the truth is that I thought that Markus and you would probably enjoy some time together”

For once, Connor’s system understood the implications of Kara’s sentence before his brain because his LED passed from blue to yellow even when Connor was still confused.

“Together?”, Connor repeated, causing Kara to talk with an apologetic tone after misinterpreting Connor’s nervous state for annoyance.

“I know, I shouldn’t have intervened, Luther told me it was a bad idea, but since you like each other I thought that it was a good opportunity for you to-”

“W _-What_?!”

Connor couldn’t blame Kara when this one jumped startled, because he was also surprised for the high-pitched scale that his tone acquired after hearing Kara’s words.

“Wait…”, Kara’s eyes opened wide, “…don’t tell me I’ve read everything wrong. You don’t like each other?”

Connor cleared his throat to make sure that his voice module would sound as always and tried again while forcefully pushing away the images that the words ‘Markus’, ‘like’ and ‘together’ made appear in his brain when combined.

“N-No, we don’t”, Connor didn’t know why his tone kept sounding higher if his module was apparently in perfect shape, and neither why his mouth kept spelling words that he hadn’t thought through, “I mean, of course you could say that we like each other but just as mere opposition of hating each other, but if by like each other you refer to the equivalence of romantically like each other then no, we don’t”

Connor realized that he had used ‘like’ and ‘each other’ more than three times in a single sentence. Definitely, there was something wrong with his system. Surely the exploration had left him more exhausted than he thought and that was the cause of his current confused state.

“Okay, I’m sorry”, Kara said softly, even if his expression didn’t look particularly apologetic and she looked as if she was suppressing a smile, “I just misinterpreted everything: since Markus didn’t stop looking at you during the training and you looked pretty nervous when he was around I thought that there was something between you two, but it seems I was mistaken”, Kara’s tone turned casual while beginning to talk to herself, “so maybe it’s true that Markus and North are together”

Connor’s LED, that was about to turn blue again, returned to a bright yellow color.

“What?”

Kara seemed to remember that Connor was next to her at that moment.

“Oh, they are just rumors: some people think that Markus and North are going out because they spend a lot of time together”, Kara shrugged softly, “personally I thought that they are just friends, but maybe I was wrong too and they are more than that”

Connor suppressed a gulp and looked towards Markus direction again. Now North had incorporated and was just sitting next to Markus so close to him that their shoulders were touching, which allowed her to lean part of her weight against him in a familiar way.

Rapidly, Connor analyzed the interactions between Markus and North that he had observed and concluded that in fact they could be secretly dating with a 56% of probability. It wasn’t a conclusive result because it was too close to 50%, but nevertheless it made Connor unpleasant.

However, this time that feeling that he was experiencing had sense because if Markus was going out with North, who clearly had rather violent tendencies, his decision making, until now pacifistic, could be affected, and if that happened the peaceful resolution that Connor was trying to achieve would be greatly compromised. Therefore, it was pretty mandatory to discover if they were actually together (for the mission, of course), so now Connor just had to wait for a chance to approach Markus when North wasn’t around.

Luckily, when just ten minutes had passed Blue and Brona approached North to tell her something that provoked her to abandon the group, but Simon and Josh were still there and Connor wondered if it was better to wait in case both androids decided to go too.

‘ _Unlike North we don’t bite, Connor, so you can join us if you want_ ’

Connor jumped on the box where he was sitting when Simon’s voice sounded in his head, and deduced that Simon had shared the message with Markus and Josh too because the three of them here laughing quietly at the other side while looking at his direction, so Connor deduced that he hadn’t been so subtle while observing the group as he had thought.

 “I think your presence is required”, Kara commented with a smile when Simon began gesturing so that Connor approached them.

Connor looked at Dana, who was really concentrated while drawing, and after saying Kara a soft ‘ _see you_ ’ he approached Markus’ group. Fortunately, the deviant leader, Josh and Simon resumed their previous conversation while Connor approached, because otherwise Connor would have probably felt nervous if the other had been looking at him while he walked towards them.

“When North comes back she will surely protest for seeing you here, but meanwhile get comfy”, Josh said with a smile.

“Yes, just make sure not to sit on the box, since the leader prefers being on a higher level than us”

Connor looked at Markus with surprise, not expecting that, and found the mentioned leader looking at Simon in disbelief. 

“I’ve told you more than three times that you have a box just right there”, Markus signaled with an empathic movement of his hand a box situated just next to the one he was sitting, “if you are on the floor is just because you want to”

“Don’t get angry, leader, it’s okay if you want to look at us from above and-”

When Markus rudely got off the box to sit on the floor even Josh couldn’t help to laugh instead of reproaching Simon as he usually did.

“Happy?”, Markus snapped with certain exasperation, even if it was evident that he was suppressing a smile when Simon thumbed up at him approvingly.

Seeing that he was the only one standing Connor removed his jacket and took a seat next to Markus so that they two were facing Simon and Josh, leaving the bonfire on their right. During the next minutes Markus, Josh and Simon commented how the day had gone in general with Connor intervening occasionally.

While listening to them, Connor thought that it was a little disconcerting that, despite the precarious situation that the deviants were currently facing, they still allowed themselves to spend time together to talk and joke around. That ability to be able to momentarily ‘forget’ their problems was something intrinsically human, something that humans needed to do to remind themselves that, even when the next day may be the last, they still had each other, they still were alive, they still could make the most of the time they had.

Connor realized that probably the only thing that differentiated the deviants with whom he was sitting now from humans was their physical composition because their behaviors and feelings were incredibly similar if not identical, and in fact if it wasn’t for the LED that Josh and Simon were still carrying Connor would surely have to remind himself that he wasn’t with humans.

“So, Connor”, the named one woke up from his thoughts when Simon addressed him, “you’ve got used already to Jericho?”

“Yes, with the exception of the third floor that is a little labyrinthine it’s pretty intuitive to move around here”

“Just out of curiosity, where did you live before joining us?”, Josh inquired, “did you live with the rest of the police androids?”

“No, I actually had an office for myself”

“And let me guess: that was the office where you used to hunt us, right?”

Connor turned around to see North standing there, with her arms crossed and looking at him with her usual harshness. It seemed that whatever thing North had to speak to Brona and Blue it was over already and she had finished way sooner than Simon and Josh had expected, for the ‘ _Oh-shit_ ’ glances that they interchanged.

“I didn’t hunt anyone”, Connor replied, “I just investigated the cases that were assigned to me, that’s all”

“Oh, yes?”, North placed her fisted hands on her hips, her tone becoming even harsher, “then you didn’t have anything to do with the death of that android in that roof? Or with the suicide of that other android in the Police Station? Or with the assassination of _that_ other android in the Stratford Building”

“North-”

Markus tried to intervene but Connor was faster.

“That android in the roof was about to kill a human girl so I just dissuaded him from doing it, but I wasn’t the one in giving the order to shoot; that second android had killed a human, Carlos Ortiz, because he abused him, but even if there is a justification to the android’s behavior it was still a murderer and he needed to be put under arrest; and regarding the third assassination, that android stole a weapon from the guards and tried to shoot at them, so they attacked him as self-defense”

Connor answered with his usual calm, trying to lighten the tense mood, but his too rational speech just caused the opposite effect on North, who sounded even angrier than before when talking next

“You have heard him, right? Do you really think that _he_ is one of us?”, North exclaimed, pointing at him, “he, who defends the humans over us?”

“North, listen, he isn’t defending anyone”, Markus intervened with an equally calmed voice, standing up to be at North’s same level, “he has just explained what happened and-”

“No, Markus, I don’t want to listen”, the female deviant exhaled a trembling sigh and looked at Connor, “maybe you are right, and maybe I was wrong when saying that he came here to kill you, but that doesn’t change the fact that he went against our people, and no matter how hard I try I just can’t stop thinking that that android in the roof could have been Simon, and that the android whose owner tortured him suffered the same than Josh did when he was attacked by those students, and that any day _you_ …”, North pointed at Markus, “…could be the one in being shot for trying to save us. So I will _never_ be able to trust the former Deviant Hunter, because maybe he didn’t kill our people directly but he allowed the humans to do it instead without moving a fucking finger to stop them”

North’s heavy words kept hanging in the air even when she turned around and walked towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

During the next seconds no one talked, the tense silence surrounding the four male androids until Markus broke it by exhaling a soft sigh.

“I’ll go to speak to her”

“No, we’ll go”, Simon said instead, standing up at the same time than Josh, “North being angry is scary but being sad it’s even worse, so I’ll make sure that she recovers her usual bad mood”

Simon’s comment caused Markus to smile briefly before sitting on the floor again next to Connor, who barely reacted because he was still analyzing North’s words, his LED shining in bright yellow.

“Hey”, until Markus settled his hand on Connor’s shoulder he didn’t realize that Simon and Josh were gone and he was just there with Markus, “are you okay?”

Connor was going to answer automatically that he was fine, but realized that he couldn’t, and again, as it lately happened to him, he began to talk before being completely sure about what he was going to say.

“Until now, I hadn’t thought about what North had said. It had never occurred to me that I could have done better”, Connor averted his eyes, “all this time I’ve been thinking that those cases had been successfully resolved, but now I think that, if I had tried harder, I could have prevented those androids’ deaths”

Connor remained with his eyes fixed on the floor until Markus pressed softly his shoulder, causing Connor to look at him again.

“What I’m going to say hasn’t any logical foundation, and considering how prone you are to use logic maybe you disagree with me, but somehow I have the feeling that if you took those decisions, it was because you couldn’t possibly do it any better”

Connor looked at Markus, and after a moment of hesitation he talked.

“Markus, can I make you a question?”

“Sure”, Markus said, releasing Connor shoulder.

“When I came to Jericho I had assumed that everyone was going act like North towards me, since, all things considered, that would be perfectly understandable. But everyone has been really nice with me despite what I used to be, so I was wondering”, Connor frowned and tilted slightly his head in confusion, “why do everyone trust me so much?”

Markus looked at Connor for several long seconds, but just when he was going to answer a set of familiar rapid steps began to sound next to them and when Connor looked towards the noise he saw Dana running towards him, carrying a piece of paper on her hands.

Dana approached Markus and Connor, crouched in front of Connor, and with a proud smile she showed the piece of paper to him. It was a drawing of an android with an extremely big blue LED, brown hair, two round brown spots that worked as eyes, and a wide pink smile. The certainly scary android was holding hands with a shorter android, whose head’s size was rather disproportionate compared to the rest of the body. The second android was drawn in white, had two big brown eyes, and was smiling widely too. Finally, a big irregular red heart had been drawn over the two androids.

Connor observed the drawing for barely a couple of seconds, but that seemed to be too much time for Dana because the girl impatiently signaled the biggest android before signaling Connor.

“This is me?”, Connor said a little hesitantly, since honestly speaking that android didn’t resemble him too much.

Dana nodded eagerly before signaling the other android and herself.

“And this is you”, Connor completed, causing Dana to nod again before softly placing the paper on Connor’s lap.

Connor looked at the paper and Dana alternatively before speaking with surprise.

“Is it for me?”

This time, Dana blushed a little before nodding again.

Connor gulped and looked at the piece of paper again. It was the first time that someone gave him a present, and Connor couldn’t possible explain how that little piece of paper could cause such a strong reaction in his system, making him feel so much better even when he thought that he was in a pretty acceptable condition.

“Thank you”

Connor smiled at Dana, who managed to surprise him even more by depositing a fast kiss on his cheek before running back to Kara and the rest. Connor observed the girl run, stunned, and slowly approached his hand to his cheek, to the place where Dana had just kissed him.

“For this”

Connor was startled when hearing Markus, since for a moment he had forgotten that he was there.

Still grabbing the piece of paper on his hands Connor looked at Markus, and his already confused system turned even more chaotic when seeing the intensity that Markus’ eyes held inside.

“What?”, Connor asked, making effort not to avert his gaze.

“You asked why the people of Jericho trust you, but I can just answer for myself, and in my case”, Markus smiled playfully, “I don’t think that someone able to show such a dumb expression when a child gives him a drawing is able to harm us. At least, not on purpose”

Connor had never blushed before, and the only warning he had about his cheeks showing a soft blue color was the way Markus’ smile widened. Fortunately, Markus was kinder than Josh in the teasing department and he didn’t point it out.

“And about North, she has motives for being so distrustful”, Markus’ tone darkened, “most part of the people of Jericho have gone through a lot, but I think that she is probably the one who has suffered the most”

Even if Markus didn’t add any details about North’s past, Connor knew what he was talking about because he had read her files before he and Hank went after Kara.

Connor observed Markus silently, and at that moment he remembered his initial objective of approaching Markus.

“You care a lot about her”

Markus smiled warmly and nodded, which confirmed Connor’s fear- _suspicions_.

“Yes, and even if sometimes it may not be too evident she does the same for me, Josh and Simon”, Markus smiled softly while leaning his back against the box, “she would kill me if she heard me but her heart is almost as big as her temperament. She is a great friend”

Connor, who was focusing to keep his LED in an acceptable blue color, looked at Markus again.

“Friend”, he repeated, “so you are not…?”

Markus looked at Connor with surprise when the last one left the sentence hanging.

“…together?”, Markus completed before exhaling a short laugh, “no, we aren’t. We are good friends and she is like a sister for me, but that’s all”

Connor gulped softly while nodding, trying not to change his expression but something must have betrayed him because Markus’ expression turned amused.

“What?”, Connor asked, realizing too late that he had sounded a little defensive.

“You look relieved”, Markus’ casual tone contrasted with the teasing glint of his eyes, “that means that if I was with her, would that bother you?”

Connor realized that Markus had used almost the exact same sentence that he had used the previous day, and suspected that no matter how he answered Markus was probably going to tease him anyway, so Connor decided that, this time, he would have the upper hand. 

“Yes”

Connor learnt the full meaning of the word ‘satisfaction’ when his monosyllabic answered made Markus’ eyes wide open in disbelief.

“You say it would bother you?”, Markus repeated with incredulity.

“Yes”, Connor purposely adopted an exaggerated academic tone, “because it is demonstrated that a 63.4% of the leaders engaged in romantic relationships decide to act by instinct instead of following reason which may be prejudicial in the long term and-”

“Please, tell me that you have just made that up”

Connor couldn’t help to chuckle when hearing Markus’ exasperated tone, which caused the deviant leader to end laughing as well.

“Actually I’ve used real data”, Connor said with a smile, “although I admit that they were a little outdated. I can tell you the most updated information regarding that matter if you want though”

“No, thank you, it’s not necessary. After all you never know when you are going to fall for someone, and in that case I prefer not to know if that would affect my leader capacities”

Even if Markus’s sentence had ended in a joking tone it didn’t go unnoticed by Connor the little pause that the deviant leader purposely made on that ‘someone’, neither the way his eyes had shined briefly while looking at him at that precise moment.

Connor gulped loudly, and even if androids didn’t sweat he felt his system heating up when a tension that he couldn’t quite define landed between Markus at him, but the most surprising thing was that that indefinable tension wasn’t bad per se. It was just intense, _too_ intense, and it indeed provoked some effects on Connor that he had never experienced before, such as the imperious necessity of getting close to the person he was with, and the fact that Markus was that person (or deviant, to be accurate) confused Connor to no end.

“Well, I think I should go with the rest”, Markus’ words put an end to the confusing information that Connor was receiving in each circuit of his system, “and check that North hasn’t killed Simon for teasing her too much”

Connor accepted the hand that Markus was offering to help him stand up and it amazed him once again how warm it was. He wondered for a brief moment if the rest of Markus’ body would be that way too before rapidly discarding that totally irrelevant thought that caused his system to heat up again for a brief moment.

“Alright. Good luck preventing the murder”, Connor said with a smile that Markus mimicked.

“Thanks, and I hope that the next time that you feel like talking to us you just don’t wait to be invited”

Connor chuckled softly and nodded.

“Understood, leader”

Markus half-closed his eyes for a moment but almost immediately he recovered his imperturbable expression.

“See you, Mr. I’m-not-looking-for-love-right-now”

Connor blushed again, but he was still finding a proper reply when Markus walked away after winking at him teasingly. Connor exhaled a sigh while observing Markus leave before returning to Kara’s space to recover his bag. After that, he said goodnight to Kara, Luther, and the girls and walked towards his usual corner while trying to normalize his agitated system.

It took him almost a whole minute to do that and then he proceeded to remove the stupid smile that had just appeared on his face after his last conversation with Markus, but this time it didn’t take Connor too much to stop smiling because at that moment he received a message.

It was Amanda. She was summoning him for an urgent reunion right then.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theoretically this chapter was going to have more story plot but I just like too much writing oblivious, clueless Connor and the Jericho gang aaaand for that reason it has ended the way it has ^^U Hope you have enjoyed it nevertheless :)


	7. What do you want?

Connor spent a full minute making sure that his system was perfectly stable before connecting to the Zen Garden, where Amanda was waiting for him next to the rose trellis. The storm that had formed the last time he visited the Garden was still there, stronger than before, and even if it wasn’t raining yet it seemed it could start at any moment.

“Good evening, Connor”, Amanda greeted him with her usual serenity when Connor was finally in front of her, “I suppose that it is safe for you to meet if you have answered my call”

“Yes, Amanda”, Connor answered promptly, “I was about to enter dormant mode so I doubt we are interrupted”

“Good”, Amanda handled an umbrella to Connor just when the first raindrops started to fall upon them, “accompany me for a small walk then. There are some matters that we need to discuss”

Connor opened the umbrella so that it covered Amanda completely before beginning to walk around the garden.

“I have read the reports you have been sending. According to them, a total of 437 deviants are currently hiding in Jericho. Among them, 310 are completely operational, 89 need repairs and 29 are in critical condition, am I correct?”

Connor confirmed Amanda’s summary and the woman continued speaking.

“Excellent. That information will help us in case we need to prepare for a war, which is the main thing I needed to discuss with you”, Amanda looked at Connor, “I know you have been infiltrated less than a week but, with the information you have gathered up till now, what can you tell me about Jericho’s leader? Do you think there is a chance that he adopts a more violent approach?”

“Absolutely not”

The way Amanda half-closed her eyes made Connor realize that he had answered too categorically, and that he should have taken his time in presenting his arguments before reaching such a cutting conclusion, as he always used to do.

“You seem really sure about it, Connor, but can you elaborate?”

This time Connor allowed himself to invest some seconds reorganizing his thoughts before answering.

“As you have already commented I have just been in Jericho five days, but I believe that it has been enough time so that I can form an opinion about Markus’ intentions. Within this time, he hasn’t showed the least sign of wanting to retort to unnecessary violence. In fact, he was the one who prevented another deviant from probing my memory the first night I joined them. Also, he had never expressed hate towards humans or any kind of desire to want to hurt them, and when other deviants express such opinions he always remind them that violence is not the solution. Finally, all the incursions that have been carried out while I’ve been with them had the ultimate goal of finding resources for their people, nor to find more weapons or to attack humans. Therefore, I really believe that the only thing Markus and most part of his people want is what he expressed on its message: to be free”

Amanda broke the brief silence that fell after Connor’s speech with a soft hum.

“You have just commented quite interesting things, Connor, but the first one that catches my attention is that you have referred to Jericho’s leader by his given name, as if you were pretty close to him”

Connor suppressed in time a gulp. Considering how strangely his system used to react while being around Markus to call him in such a familiar way wasn’t as weird, but still it was true that in his previous conversations with Amanda he had never addressed Markus by his real name. Fortunately, Connor found a reasonable explanation to justify such a change.

“I’ve got used to call him that way because he dislikes being called ‘leader’. And I wouldn’t say that we are ‘pretty close’, although I have accompanied him a couple of times outside Jericho”

Amanda hummed again.

“And do you consider that he trusts you?”

Connor didn’t need to analyze his interactions with Markus up till that point to answer with a nod, which caused Amanda to show a small smile.

“Well, that is indeed good news for your mission, since it means you can eventually convince him to stop this revolution”, Connor deduced that his face hadn’t been as imperturbable as he thought when Amanda frowned lightly, “or perhaps am I mistaken?”

Connor predicted that his next answer wasn’t going to please Amanda, but he hadn’t been programmed to lie. Not so directly at least.

“I greatly doubt that anyone can convince Markus to stop what he had already started. At this point, I think that the best solution to prevent a civil war is that the two parts reach an agreement”

Connor thought that he was prepared for the silence that would follow next but it was heavier than he had anticipated. Even the rain that was falling turned thicker and Connor wondered if it wouldn’t have been better not to add that last part.

“So you are suggesting that we should really treat deviants as our equals?”

Amanda’s tone didn’t suffer any changes but Connor knew that he had to be careful with his next answer, because somehow he felt that pointing out his conclusions of deviants not being very different from humans wasn’t a very wise idea.

“I just say that in case the deviant leader decided to advocate dialogue, accepting his petition would probably be the best way of avoiding unnecessary losses”

Connor knew that his answer had been ambiguous, and that it hadn’t directly answered Amanda’s one, but surprisingly it seemed to satisfy Amanda enough because she simply sighed softly before speaking again.

“Well, certainly talking to them would be better than having to confront them directly, but I trust in your capacity to make the leader eventually change his mind. If I were you, I would begin to point out that their situation cannot stand in long-term if more and more deviants keep going to Jericho. Also, I will make sure to spread in the news that the deviants that surrender peacefully and that accept coming back to CyberLife won’t be destroyed”

“And that last part, is it true?”

Amanda’s eyes showed surprise for a moment, and Connor realized that it was also the first time that he questioned Amanda’s orders. What was wrong with him? He had checked before the meeting that his system was completely fine, so why he had been behaving so out of character in front of Amanda?

Fortunately, Amanda’s next words helped to comfort him.

“Of course, Connor. Considering the pacifistic approach that the deviants had followed so far we cannot simply destroy them since such a decision would negatively affect the public opinion. However, we must analyze what exactly has caused such a change of behavior in them. After all, people will stop buying CyberLife androids if they suspect that they can fall into deviancy, so we must discover what provoked the deviancy in the first place. Therefore, if you manage to convince them to surrender and they voluntarily agree on passing our tests, I guarantee that they will not be harmed in any way”

Connor suppressed a relieved sigh. What Amanda had said certainly had perfect sense. The android’s purpose was to serve humans, so it was logical that CyberLife wanted to analyze why they had suddenly become deviants, but he was glad to know that Amanda didn’t plan to discard the ones that had waken up.

“Well, that was one of the points I wanted to discuss. The other one was related to the weapons in the deviants’ possession”, Amanda looked at Connor with curiosity, “have you learnt more about that matter?”

Connor shook his head negatively.

“Just what I wrote in the report: they keep them in one of the rooms of the third floor but as far as I know they never use them when going to scavenge”

“And during those escapades, have they found more weapons?”

“No, they always prioritize to find supplies, clothes and body parts rather than weapons”

Amanda nodded and remained quiet for a moment before talking again.

“Alright. In that case, keep sending the reports as you have been doing and inform about any significant changes. For now I assume that nothing too relevant has happened since you have merely informed about the people of Jericho”

Connor thought for a moment. He hadn’t told Amanda about Dana’s rescue, or about his training classes, or about his brief collapse. Also, before he had claimed that he had just accompanied Markus outside Jericho but he hadn’t mentioned his talk during the first night he kept watch, or the way Markus had taken care of him after he got exhausted, or the talk that took place that same night that had made him feel so… _weird_.

After analyzing those events Connor concluded that they did not provide too vital information to the mission and that consequently he could perfectly omit them. After all, Connor was sure that Amanda had a rather busy agenda and she wouldn’t appreciate that he bothered her more than necessary with insubstantial information.

“For now everything has been really calm around Jericho, but I will inform you of any relevant events that take place”

Amanda offered Connor one of her enigmatic smiles and nodded.

“Very well, Connor. That will do for now then. Keep up the good work”

The next time Connor blinked he was back at Jericho, sitting on his corner. He was still sustaining Dana’s drawing on his hand so he carefully folded it in two, and the action made him remember something he had momentarily forgotten: the paper that North had showed Markus after they returned to Jericho.

With his eyes closed to pretend to be sleeping Connor recovered the paper from his data base and analyzed it thoroughly, since before he had just been able to scan it superficially. As he had already deduced, the paper contained a rather schematic map of Detroit with some dots marked. The annotations that appeared next to the dots were rather unintelligible, which probably meant that the one who had written them had done it in quite a hurry, but thanks to Connor’s handwriting recognition module he quickly learnt quite a lot about the notes.

The author of the map was surely human, since an android handwriting would be perfect no matter how hurriedly it wrote. Also there was a high probability that it was an amateur drug dealer because what was written on the dots seemed to be the locations of his goods, and among the five points that were marked on the map there was one that immediately caught Connor’s attention because it said ‘weapons’.

This was the kind of relevant information that he had to send to Amanda. Besides, considering how happy North had looked while talking to Markus and, as far as Connor knew, the drugs weren’t going to help the androids in any way, Connor concluded with a really low chance of failure that North had the intention of recovering weapons, or at least to check if they were still there.

Connor thought for a moment. Before he hadn’t been able to see what Markus’ reaction had been after seeing the paper, but he really doubted that Markus risked to go to that point if the reward was a set of weapons. However, the probability that Markus eventually decided to go there wasn’t zero, and Connor definitely couldn’t allow that the deviants obtained those weapons. That was directly against his orders, so after taking a deep breath he sent the map to Amanda with a brief report explaining what he was sending.

The answer was practically immediate: ‘ _I will contact the Police Department to recover what may be there. Excellent work, Connor’_.

Connor knew that he had done what he had to, so he didn’t understand why his LED blinked in yellow when some fragments of his previous conversations with Markus came to his mind.

 _‘After knowing that our message managed to make you our ally, I’m convinced that what we are doing is correct_ ’

_‘For our people, you are not the Deviant Hunter anymore but simply Connor: one of us.’_

Ally.

One of us.

Those words made Connor’s LED reach red for a moment before he exhaled a deep sigh, forcing his system to calm down until his LED was blue again.

Definitely, this mission was more dangerous than he had anticipated. Spending so much time with deviants made him occasionally forget that all this was temporary: no matter how well he got along with the people of Jericho, his mission was to make sure that they surrendered and that they didn’t have any chances to get violent with humans. Therefore, it wasn’t logical at all that he felt _guilty_ , because Connor was pretty sure that it was guilt what he had just felt for a moment. Besides, he couldn’t forget that all what he felt was emulated. Yes, those feelings looked real, incredibly real sometimes, but he couldn’t let them affect his mission.

Connor exhaled another breath and accommodated against the wall, deciding that this time he _really_ needed to enter dormant mode. Connor’s last thought before turning off completely was that he now understood why deviants needed to sleep, because if he was feeling that stressed for having to interact with them, he didn’t want to think about how tiresome it would feel to actually be one of them.

* * *

Connor spent part of the next morning helping Simon and Josh organize all the supplies that they had found the previous day, and making an inventory about how many parts were still missing to help the 29 deviants that were in critical condition and also the 89 that needed repairs.

After the inventory was ready, they waited for Markus and North to come back from the intermediate point. They returned almost an hour later than the time it had been scheduled, but when Connor and the rest saw them appear the reason of their delay became clear: among the seven new deviants that were accompanying North and Markus, one of them was severely wounded, his LED was blinking hysterically in red and the only reason for which he could still walk was that Markus and North were practically carrying him.

“Simon, bring Lucy here”, Markus ordered while making the deviant lie on the floor with North’s help.

Simon immediately ran towards the infirmary while Josh guided the rest of the androids, who were also hurt but in way better condition than the android on the floor, inside Jericho.  Connor remained standing next to Markus and North. More people began to approach to watch what was happening but Connor barely noticed it, since he was busy analyzing the wounded deviant.

He was an HR400 white android, a model designed exclusively for sexual purposes, and even if Markus had used his coat to cover the practically naked android Connor could still analyze that his body was full of lacerations, some of them so deep that they reached his internal organs. Also, several rope marks covered his upper half, and after a quick analysis Connor concluded that those injuries corresponded to hardcore-bondage, so it wasn’t very difficult to deduce that the android’s previous owner or client was the culprit of his critical state.

“Hey”, North’s harsh call made Connor look at her, “what about giving a hand here instead of being there standing?”

Connor’s first impulse was to tell North that there was nothing that he or they could do for the android, and that his probabilities of recovering were below the 0.0045%, but then he saw how Markus was pressing his hands against a wound the deviant had next to his artificial heart while North did the same with a wound that was on his stomach, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, and Connor understood that such an information was the least thing they needed to hear.

Therefore, he simply knelt next to them while removing his sweater, offering it to Markus so that he could use it to press the wound more comfortably even if Connor knew that it was a matter of seconds that that android shut down.

However, when Connor was going to stand up again, the agonizing android grabbed Connor by the front of his black t-shirt while opening his eyes widely.

“W…Where…am…I?”

The android’s voice sounded distorted and deep, probably because his voice module had been damaged after his client used a rope around his neck with way too much force.

“You’re safe now”, Markus’ calm tone didn’t match the worry in his eyes, “you’re going to be okay, just hold on a little longer”

Connor felt the deviant’s grip on his t-shirt, already weak, falter even more, and he gulped when seeing artificial tears fall from the deviant’s eyes.

“I d-don’t…want…to die”, the android whispered with his broken voice, “I don’t…want to…”

The android’s hand let Connor’s shirt slip and began to malfunction, opening and closing his fingers alternatively as if wanting to get a hold on to something.

Automatically Connor responded to that gesture and grabbed the android’s hand, pressing it lightly, which caused the deviant to stop sobbing and manage a faint smile.

 “-lone…”, the deviant whispered, closing his eyes again, “…not…alone…”

The deviant’s red LED faded until fusing with his skin after he whispered those last words, and even if Connor had known from the start what the fate of that android was going to be, that didn’t stop his LED from blinking in yellow for some seconds when releasing the android’s now inert hand.

“Shit”

Connor turned his head to look at North in time to see some tears appearing on the corner of her eyes even if she stood up rapidly to give her back to Markus and him, clearly not wanting them to see her crying.  

At that moment Simon and Lucy appeared out of the crowd with evident hurry. The blond android’s face saddened when seeing the scene.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been too slow”

“No, Simon, we have done everything we could”, Connor looked at Markus when this one talked, and the only thing that betrayed the deviant leader’s apparently composed expression were his bicolor eyes, which were shining more than usual, “but it was not enough”

Markus stood up and asked the people that had been observing the scene help to take care of the deceased android. Connor observed the peaceful expression that had appeared in his face when he grabbed his hand, amazed that such an apparent trivial gesture could be powerful enough to turn someone’s desperation into calm.

Connor was about to help Markus and the others lift the android when North approached them with her jaw tense and her eyes shining with a mix of frustration and anger.

“We need to talk. Now”

Markus hesitated but at the end he indicated the others to carry the android without him. Since North’s invitation was directed to Markus and Simon, Connor was about to accompany the rest, but Markus touched softly his shoulder silently indicating him to come along so he did so.

North frowned when seeing that Connor was joining them but she didn’t say anything and began to lead the way towards the control room. Josh joined them when they were about to climb the stairs to the second floor, so the main group was complete when the door of the control room snapped closed and North faced the male androids with her arms crossed tight in front of her chest.

“96 deviants. That’s the number of people we’ve lost since we decided to oppose humans and today we have just seen another die”, North fixed her eyes on Markus, “and I’m already tired of it. We have to gain the upper hand already and you know what we have to do in order to achieve that”

“Wait, you can’t be suggesting…”

“Yes, Josh, I’m suggesting exactly that”

“Please, can you drop the spy-talk for a moment and fill me in?”, Simon asked with confusion while Connor remained silent, since he already knew what the others were talking about when Josh sighed and began to speak.

“Yesterday while exploring our area North and I found a map with some notations that indicate several places where we can find resources”

“And it is possible that there are weapons stored in one of those spots”, North completed, causing Simon to arch his eyebrows.

“Okay, so your plan is to follow the indications that appear in a mysterious map that, casually, has exactly what we need? That’s not suspicious at all”

“Damn, can _you_ now just drop your irony for a fucking moment and listen?”, North exclaimed, “I perfectly now that it may be a trap or that maybe there’s nothing there anymore, but if by any chance this map is correct it would be an opportunity we can’t let pass, so the risk is worth it”

“No”

Markus’ uncharacteristic hard tone surprised not just Connor but everyone.

“What?”, North asked, sounding clearly annoyed.

“I say it’s not worth the risk”, Markus repeated crossing his arms as well, “even if we had a guarantee that we can find weapons there, that place is too far away from Jericho”

“Markus, we have examined all the areas around Jericho already, and correct me if I’m mistaken but resources don’t appear out of nowhere, so at some point we’ll have to scavenge farther away”

“Yes, that’s true, but we will do that when there isn’t any other option left. We risk ourselves already every time that we leave Jericho, so I don’t see the point in putting us in danger if we don’t even know what we are going to find there”

North stared at Markus in disbelief and exhaled a empty laugh.

“What’s happened to you, Markus? You were the one who said that living in the shadows is not freedom. We had already resigned ourselves to that life, but then you came and gave us hope by deciding to face humans, so what’s changed?”

Markus gulped before talking again with a hint of frustration that he didn’t manage to mask well enough.

“Nothing. I still think that living caged here isn’t freedom, but I don’t think that to be free consists of being reckless and getting us probably killed just because we might get a few weapons”

“Well, then we’ll simply wait here until we die for lack of supplies because our leader is a coward”

“North!”, Josh exclaimed horrified, but North simply clicked her tongue in annoyance and averted her eyes.

Connor looked at Markus. The deviant leader was trying to look as composed as always, but it was evident that North’s words had affected him more than he was willing to admit for the way he was unconsciously tensing his jaw and the stiffness of his posture. Also, the fact that North, who usually faced every situation and person fiercely, was avoiding looking at Markus it was a proof that she was ashamed, and that she in part regretted some of the words she had just said, but probably she was too proud to apologize.

“Umh…and what about holding a vote?”, Connor suggested when some seconds passed and no one was saying anything, “that’s what it is usually done when people disagree, right?”

North snorted a little tremblingly before shaking her head.

“That’s not necessary ex-Hunter: it’s evident that my opinion will be discarded, like always”

With those words North abandoned the room while avoiding eye contact with everyone. Another brief silence fell, but this time it was Simon who broke it.

“Should I talk to her?”

Markus sighed deeply and shook his head.

“I don’t think she wants to listen to anyone right now”

Simon exhaled a humorless laugh.

“Yes, you are probably right”

After a new small silence Markus talked again, his voice sounding as normal as it could after having held such an intense conversation.

“While we were out you have been preparing the inventory, right?”, Markus looked at the three male androids, “what do we need with urgency?”

During the next fifteen minutes Connor and the rest discussed about the supplies they had and the ones there were still missing, because some of the deviants of the infirmary didn’t have much time left and they needed to know the resources whose search they had to prioritize.

After the talk, Markus and the others visited the infirmary to talk to Lucy to decide if they had to go outside immediately or if on the contrary it was better to wait a little and try to prepare a bigger assault such as the one they had already carried out in that facility of CyberLife. While they did that, Connor was asked to talk to the last deviants that had joined Jericho, since some of them were also injured and probably the inventory needed to be updated.

The task took Connor more than he had expected because the deviants weren’t all in the first common area and some of them had decided to install themselves in the third floor, so by when Connor returned to the infirmary Josh was the only one who was there, relocating some stretchers with other androids.

“Hey, have you finished?”

“Yes, I have updated the inventory and recommended one of the newcomers to go to the infirmary because her left eye component was failing. The rest need some repairs but are in relative good shape”

While talking, Connor helped Josh when the stretcher was about to bump into another one, making the deviant smile at him.

“Thank you. Have you seen Simon, by the way? He told me that he had to do something quick but it’s been a while and hadn’t come back yet”

Connor shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry. And do you know where Markus is? I think he would like to know that the inventory is ready”

Josh nodded.

“Yeah, he is on the third floor”, Josh laughed when seeing Connor’s desperate face, “don’t worry, I know exactly where: after climbing up the stairs, pass the first set of cabins to your left, then take the second corridor on the right and follow it until reaching the end”

Connor smiled briefly and thanked Josh, relieved to know that he wouldn’t have to go knocking door by door to try to find Markus.

While going to the third floor Connor reviewed in his head how to initiate his next conversation with Markus, because despite what he had told Josh, his intention was to make the most of the conversation that had taken place in the control room to ask the leader about the weapons stored in Jericho, and probably about what Amanda had suggested about considering a possible surrender.

Since Connor was busy thinking abot the best way to bring up those two subjects, he opened the door that Josh had indicated him without bothering to knocking.

However, when the first thing Connor saw was a half-naked, surprised Markus standing in front of some kind of stall, he suddenly wished to have knocked, because the unexpected vision of Markus’ usually hidden tanned pectorals and way too defined abs on full display made Connor’s system heat up in barely a second, and he didn’t know why exactly he was reacting that way because Markus wasn’t even completely naked: he still had his jeans on, and even if he had been completely naked Connor shouldn’t have reacted either because androids supposedly didn’t react to any kind of nudity and-

“If you needed to use the showers I’ll finish soon”

Markus’ completely natural comment put a stop to Connor’s confusing thoughts and he finally looked around, seeing that the narrow stalls that covered the room were individual showers and that Markus was using one of them as an improvised way of washing his t-shirt.

Connor noticed that the water was of a brighter blue color at Markus’ feet. He analyzed it with curiosity and his eyes opened wide.

“Why is there blood in your t-shirt?”

Markus looked at Connor with surprise before smiling reassuringly.

“My t-shirt is right there”, Markus signaled with his head a chair that had been placed at the other side of the room before extending the wrinkled clothing to show it to Connor, “this is your sweater. I was trying to clean them both but…”

Markus didn’t complete the sentence but he didn’t need to, because Connor saw that his grey sweater had a wide blue, blood stain on its front despite Markus’ effort of removing it.

“I’m sorry”, Markus sighed softly, turning the water tap off, “luckily we have gathered several clothes. They are stored in the common area, so you can go and pick whatever you want”

“Oh, it’s okay”, Connor say, “I was wearing it so my disguise was better but I don’t need it: my model is able to endure extremely high and low temperatures”

Markus chuckled softly, approaching the chair where his t-shirt was.

“It’s not a matter of endurance, Connor. Most part of the deviants here don’t feel cold or hot either, but to be able to choose what clothes to wear is another kind of freedom that most part of the people here enjoy”

Connor frowned when Markus grabbed his own t-shirt with the intention of wearing it again.

“Shouldn’t you wait until it dries completely?”

Markus stopped mid-way and offered Connor an ironic glance before finishing putting it on.

“Yes, and I would if you didn’t look so uncomfortable for being without it”

Markus’ comment made Connor blush but he had to admit that his system stabilized when Markus’ upper-half was covered again, even if the fact that the t-shirt was still slightly damp made Markus’ upper muscles more noticeable which was slightly distracting.

“So did you need something?”, Markus asked while following Connor outside the shower room.

During the trip back to the first floor Connor told Markus about the inventory. When they reached the control room Markus sat down in his usual spot while Connor leant against the control panel. They kept talking about the same matter for some minutes and when Connor finally finished speaking Markus exhaled a soft sigh.

“Alright, so we have enough supplies to treat half of the deviants of the infirmary but we still have to get more, preferably in two days at most”

“Exactly”

Markus nodded to himself and remained silent for the next seconds, lost in his thoughts.

“With all the components we need it won’t be enough to explore like we did yesterday”, Markus said aloud, even if he was talking more to himself than to Connor, “and assaulting another facility of CyberLife isn’t an option because they will have tightened the security for sure, so probably we’ll have to gather information around the zone. Maybe we’ll find some leads about where we can find some components”

“We should ask the people of Jericho too”, Connor suggested, “for example, I think that there are some androids that worked as assistants in Electronic shops that could know where the merchandise is stored. The components that we find won’t be as good as the ones CyberLife sells, but maybe they can be adapted and give us some more time”

Markus’ expression illuminated when hearing Connor’s proposal.

“We still have some hours until the evening, so if we go now we have time to check the stores and see if it’s feasible to sneak inside at night. Great idea, Connor”

Connor realized a little too late that he could have perfectly avoided giving such an idea, but somehow the smile that Markus was offering at him at that moment prevented Connor from feeling too bad about it.

“Very well, then I’ll go asking around”, Connor said efficiently, because since the harm was already done it would be suspicious not to offer Markus his help.

Connor had just given a couple of steps towards the door when Markus’ voice stopped him.

“Connor”

“Yes?”, Connor asked, surprised when seeing that Markus looked suddenly nervous.

The deviant leader bit his bottom lip hesitantly (such an action did _not_ provoke any effect in Connor’s system, none at all) before standing up as well.

“I know I’m changing the subject, but what do you think about what North has said before?”

Connor blinked, taken by surprise, which just seemed to put Markus more nervous because he cleared his throat briefly before talking again.

“I mean, what do you think we should do? Because I already know that North would prefer a direct confrontation, and that Josh thinks that we should hold on no matter what, and that Simon is still considering all the possibilities but doesn’t have a formed opinion. But…”, Markus looked at Connor with interest, “…I don’t know what _you_ think”

Connor gulped.

This was it: the opportunity that he had been waiting to try to convince Markus.

So then, why did he suddenly feel so nervous?

“I don’t know if you are going to like my answer”

Markus raised his eyebrows in surprise before shrugging briefly.

“Try me”

Connor gulped again, louder, and then he just spelled the words.

“Have you ever thought about surrendering?”

As Connor was expecting his question caused Markus’ frown, but he didn’t look angry, just confused.

“That’s what you’d want to do?”

Connor detected incredulity on Markus’ tone, as if he didn’t believe what Connor had just said, so Connor decided that it was time to expose the arguments that Amanda had suggested him to use.

“Surrendering is probably the most logical thing to do. Every day more and more deviants arrive at Jericho, which means that eventually the ship will be insufficient to accommodate everyone. In fact, the only reason why there is enough space for all of us is the fact that not all the androids that come to Jericho decide to stay and that a good number of them only passes by to rest or to be healed before trying to cross the frontier like Kara, Luther and Alice had initially planned. So, logically speaking-”

“Connor, you aren’t answering my question”

Connor blinked, confused for Markus’ interruption.

“But I’m doing it right now”

“No, you aren’t”, Markus argued, his tone soft, “you may be right: if we don’t do something soon, be it surrender, confront the humans or dialogue with them, we will be forced to search for an alternative place to stay, but that’s not what I’ve asked you”

Connor felt his heartbeat increase a couple of revolutions when Markus slowly approached him until being in front of him, at the limit of what Connor would consider his personal space.

“I don’t want to know what the most logical action to take would be, or what the statistics say we should do”, Markus pointed his index finger at Connor’s chest softly, “I want to know what _you_ want to do”

Connor gulped again for the third time in less than three minutes.

What did he want?

He couldn’t want anything else than accomplishing his mission, which meant to follow Amanda’s indications, which meant to make Markus stop the revolution once and for all. That’s the only thing that he should want.

But then, why couldn’t he keep defending his arguments? He was more than capable to do so. He was the most advanced model of CyberLife. He was the Android Detective, the Negotiator. Thanks to his advanced logic and analytic reasoning, he was theoretically able to destroy anyone else’s arguments.

So why, right then, instead of focusing on convincing Markus to surrender, he wasn’t even able to hold Markus’ gaze? Why did his eyes occasionally divert to Markus’ mouth when the deviant leader wasn’t even speaking? Why a part of his mind was telling him that he wanted something that had absolutely _nothing_ to do with his mission? And why Markus’ features had just softened as if he exactly knew what Connor himself didn’t?

_BAM_

“Markus, I think we have a probl-”

Simon, who had just entered the room without waiting for permission, stopped in his tracks and looked at Markus and Connor alternatively, surely feeling the overwhelming tension that had invaded the room.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“No”, when Markus answered quickly and separated from Connor, this one suddenly felt how the instability of his system was considerably reduced, “what’s happening?”

Simon’s usually calm face passed to show deep concern.

“It’s about North”, Simon took air and let it out, slowly, “I think she has gone to get those weapons alone”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Simon interrupting our future pair isn't bad enough...Cliffhanger time! :D Hope you like the chapter nevertheless ^^U


	8. Too much to bear alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, I mention two short stories of the ' _I, Robot_ ' book written by Isaac Asimov: ' _Robbie_ ' and ' _Evidence_ '. It's not necessary to read the second one to understand the chapter at all, but if you don't know the first story I recommend to read its [summary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_\(short_story\)) before reading the chapter :)

“ _What_?”

Something that Connor had seen several times already was that deviants, the same as humans, had the capacity of expressing emotions with really simple words, but still he couldn’t help to feel amazed when Markus managed to express surprise, confusion, worry and exasperation all at the same time.

“After finishing talking to Lucy I have checked the places where North usually goes when she wants to be alone but I haven’t found her there, and while checking the second floor Chloe has told me that North had gone there to borrow a couple of weapons”

Simon was talking calmly but his yellow LED showed that he was under unequivocal stress, and even if Markus had long removed his it was obvious that he was feeling the same way.

“Has Chloe told you at what time she saw North?”

“55 minutes ago, almost after our discussion”

“So that means that, in case she actually left, she did it on the spur of the moment”

“And considering how angry she was, that’s not something good”

Despite his imperturbable appearance Connor’s brain was working rapidly to deduce the consequences of this last unexpected event while Markus and Simon talked.

At that moment it was 8.32 a.m., so almost 12 hours had passed since he sent the map with the possible location of the weapons to Amanda the previous night. Unlike Hank, who didn’t appear at the police station until past 10 a.m., officers had to be working by 8 a.m., so if Amanda had already warned the police they could have been in that place since before 8.30 a.m.

According to Simon’s information, North had been seen by Chloe 55 minutes ago at 7.27, meaning that a couple of minutes later North could have already been out Jericho, at 7.30 to round up. Connor rapidly calculated the fastest route from Jericho to the weapons hideout and concluded that if she had been lucky with the buses, North could have been there in a little more than an hour, and in two hours at most in case she had lost all the buses or had decided to go on foot. In both cases the result was the same: there was a rather high probability that the female deviant and the Police had crashed into each other. 

However, if Amanda had contacted the police already Connor was pretty sure that she would have warned him, and therefore it was clear what Connor had to do next: to inform Amanda about North’s actions to prevent her to get a hold on those weapons.

It was really simple. Connor just had to send a brief message to Amanda at that precise moment, saying what North had just done.

It didn’t have to be a long report, just a warning: _deviant going to the weapons_.

That was all.

It was so easy that he could do it right then and there.

But…

Connor threw a side glance at Markus and Simon. Neither of them had said it aloud, but they couldn’t deny how worried they were for North. After all she was their friend, their companion, and Connor was sure that in case of losing her, they would be devastated.

Of course Connor knew that, theoretically, Markus and Simon’s feelings should be the least of his worries, and that he had always to prioritize his mission over all the rest, but the same way that he had been unable to partner up with Hank without getting along with him, Connor was aware that, at this point, the people of Jericho didn’t leave him indifferent, so he only just had to make sure that the decisions he took would always be on behalf of his mission while making his most not to harm Markus and the others.

 “Okay, let’s think calmly about this”, Markus was saying when Connor paid attention to the conversation once again, “the first thing we should do is to learn more about that place in the map”

“I’ve already done so”, Simon’s LED began to blink and suddenly Connor received an image of a rather old discotheque, “the exact coordinates don’t appear in the notes but around the area it’s the most likely place”

“‘ _The Dancing IA’_ ”, Markus said aloud, frowning while his LED blinked too while searching for more information, “it seems that the place was closed from 2000 to 2036 but then it opened again ”

“Wait, I have heard that name before”, Connor performed a rapid but thorough search in the information he had gathered since he was activated and in a couple of seconds he found what he was looking for, “I knew it: when I was with the police one of the cases that Ha- the Lieutenant with whom I worked with and I received was about investigating that place. At the end we didn’t do so because we were assigned other cases, but according to the report it seems that the discotheque is just a cover”

“A cover for what?”, Markus asked.

“There weren’t many details but there were some leads that indicated that it was used to sell weapons, drugs…”, Connor made a brief pause before continuing, “…and also to provide service of illegal androids”

A heavy silence fell in the room.

“What kind of androids?”

Simon’s tone indicated that he was already expecting the answer that Connor was going to give.

“Sex androids”

Another silence, thicker than the previous one, settled between the three androids before suddenly Simon turned around with a rudeness that clearly contrasted with his usual smooth manners.

“Simon, wait”

Markus managed to step between the blond android and the door just before Simon abandoned the room.

“We have to go after her, Markus”, the quiet, angry tone that was adorning Simon’s voice was unfamiliar to Connor too, “If Connor is right about that place and there are people there selling androids…”

“Listen, I know you are worried about North. I’m worried too”, Markus tried to reason, “but we can’t just go there without having a plan”

“And what do you suggest then? To wait?”, Simon exhaled an empty laugh, “you didn’t see her, Markus. You didn’t see her when she arrived here: how broken she was, how much she hated herself for her previous life, how much she regretted not having done anything sooner even if it wasn’t her fault at all”, Simon’s blue eyes shined with determination, “and I don’t want her to go through that again. So I’ll go there, with or without your help”

Markus sighed softly before looking at Connor, whose eyes were fixed on Simon, surprised for the change of behavior that the deviant was just showing.

“Connor”, this one looked at Markus when being called, “is there any way to know if North has left Jericho?”

“Yes, of course. I could investigate Jericho’s exits to try to find some traces of her”

Markus nodded before looking at Simon again.

“Okay, what about this? While Connor and you investigate, I’ll tell everything to Josh and leave instructions to scavenge around Jericho again, and if we eventually confirm that North is gone of course we’ll go after her, but we will have to think this through before doing anything”

Simon half-closed his eyes at Markus.

“So at the end you are suggesting to wait. I don’t understand: the more we wait, the more probably is that she ends hurt, or even dead”

“Not necessarily”, Markus and Simon looked at Connor when this one intervened, “if our assumptions are true and North has been kidnapped, it’s highly unlikely that the owners plan to hurt her, since that wouldn’t benefit their business but just the contrary”

Simon sighed softly before fully turning towards Connor.

“Tell me something, Connor. What are the possibilities of North being alive at this moment?”

“Simon-”

“I want to know”, Simon ignored Markus’ warning tone and approached Connor until being just in front of him, “tell me”

Connor gulped. Everything was even more complicated than Markus and Simon thought because they didn’t know that the police may be involved too, multiplying the possible bad outcomes for North.

After his analysis gave the low result that Connor had already expected, he opened his mouth to answer but at the last moment he stopped when detecting something in Simon’s eyes. It was fear, and Connor realized then that even if Simon was verbally asking him to answer his question he actually didn’t want to know it, and therefore, Connor decided to face such contradictory petitions by choosing to answer the one who would benefit Simon more.

“I don’t have enough information to say anything conclusive”, Connor said simply, “but maybe if we do as Markus says and investigate, I can come up with a better answer”

Connor knew that he had taken the right choice by deciding to listen to Simon’s stance when this one exhaled a relieved sigh. Also, the hint of smile that appeared briefly in Markus’ face made Connor understand that the deviant leader had probably deduced what he had just done, even if theoretically RK200 androids shouldn’t be as perceptive.

“Alright”, Connor’s objectively unsatisfactory answer calmed Simon a little because his tone didn’t sound as strained as before, “I’m sorry, you two are right: if we rush after North without a plan we will be making the same mistake. Besides, maybe we are just panicking with no motive and that idiot has just gone for a long walk”

Markus exhaled a soft chuckle and patted Simon’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Yes, you’re right, so let’s not think about the worst for now because maybe while we talk North is just on her way back here”

However, despite Markus and Simon’s (fake) optimism North didn’t show up anytime soon, and the already scarce probabilities of the female deviant being at Jericho vanished definitely when twenty minutes later Connor found evidence that North had abandoned the place: the fact that the female deviant constantly changed her hairstyle usually caused some strands of hair to fall when that happened, and it seemed that she had done exactly that before leaving because a quick scan was enough for Connor to find a couple of them just in front Jericho’s main entrance.

Barely a couple of minutes after Connor finished his analysis Markus appeared together with Josh, who also looked worried, because it didn’t matter how frequently North and Josh discussed, he also cared about his companion.

Markus and Josh commented then that the teams that would be searching for resources were waiting for instructions, and Connor was surprised when this time he was asked to stay in Jericho supervising the place while Markus, Simon and Josh went to ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ area to check the place.

Despite Connor’s attempt to hide his confusion for being left out of the group, Markus read him (again) because he offered to accompany him to see the other deviants before going out with Josh and Simon.

“Are you upset?”, Markus asked after some seconds, while they walked towards the other entrance.

“What do you mean?”, Connor asked in return, caught off guard.

“For not joining us, I mean. You looked a little disappointed”

Connor tilted his head a little.

“Did I?”

Markus interpreted Connor’s honest curious answer as ironic because his tone was slightly apologetic when talking next.

“I would like you to come with us, but a group of four catches way more attention than one of three, and Simon and Josh are too worried about North to simply stay here”

Markus’ soft words made Connor smile slightly, suddenly feeling better without knowing exactly why.

“It’s okay. I’ll try to fulfill my role as substitute leader the best I can”

Markus chuckled, but Connor frowned slightly because, for once, that laugh hadn’t sounded sincere.

“Not that it’s too difficult”

Connor frowned when Markus said that more to himself than to him. He was about to ask what Markus meant by that when they reached the hidden entrance, where several deviants were already reunited.

“Okay, I leave it to you”

The smile that Markus offered Connor as a goodbye was, again, a little forced, so in an impulse Connor grabbed softly Markus’ arm just when this one was about to leave, causing the deviant leader to look at Connor’s hand with surprise before looking at Connor.

“Be careful, please”

Connor was as surprised as Markus when those words escaped his mouth, because Connor hadn’t planned to say when grabbing Markus. He just knew that he didn’t like the troubled expression that Markus had on his face, but why he had decided to express his worry for Markus at that moment he wasn’t sure about it.

However, it seemed that it had been the correct thing to say because Markus’ features relaxed a little while a new smile, a real one, made its way to his mouth again.

“We’ll be”

Connor’s system gave a brief warning of unexpected rise of heat when Markus settled his hand over Connor’s one and pressed it slightly before finally leaving. Connor observed Markus disappear towards the other entrance until he heard someone subtly clearing her throat behind him. He turned around and saw Blue and Brona looking at him with amusement.

“So…”, Blue said with a grin, “…what are your orders as Markus’ substitute and best _friend_?”

“Blue…”, Brona reproached her, even if she wasn’t making any attempts of hiding her smile.

Connor blushed without knowing why when seeing the female deviants’ inquisitive gazes, but fortunately Luther, who was a couple of meters away, approached him at that moment and after throwing a patient look at Blue and Brona (who looked at him innocently) he turned to Connor.

“Markus and Josh had told us that we should ask around to discover if there are any shops that are worth checking. Any ideas about where should we start?”

Luther’s question made Connor come back to his usual efficient attitude and after managing that the other deviants paid attention to him (Luther giving a couple of loud slaps helped in that task) Connor proceeded to talk to the ones whose previous purpose was related to shop assistance service. Among the six VH500 androids that were present, two of them had worked in electronic shops and one of them confirmed Connor’s theories that some of the goods that the shop kept in stock could momentarily help the androids of the infirmary.

It didn’t take Connor more than twenty minutes to organize the groups and the zones of Detroit that had to be investigated. Connor would have liked to accompany the androids that were going to try to sneak in the shops to make sure that nothing happened, but since Markus had trusted him with the general vigilance of Jericho, Connor contented himself with organizing the groups in a way that Luther or Chloe were in charge of the ones whose tasks were the most problematic, since Connor believed that it was little probable that either Luther or Chloe harmed humans unless it was strictly necessary.  

After the groups abandoned the hideout Connor found himself with too much free time and no idea of how to spend it, so he simply decided to go to his usual resting spot. However, unlike the other days it wasn’t empty: Dana and Alice were sitting on the box where he usually sat down to enter dormant mode, playing hand-clapping games with Kara.

When seeing him arrive, Dana immediately stepped outside the box and limped towards Connor to hug him by his waist with that effusiveness that didn’t stop surprising Connor.

“Hey”, Kara greeted him with a smile while still clapping hands with Alice, “Dana was beginning to miss you so we decided to wait for you here”

Connor clumsily returned Dana’s hug, causing the girl to smile brightly up at him before sitting on the box again next to Alice to play with Kara again. Connor also approached the box but he simply leaned against it, remaining standing.

“I’ve just seen Luther. He is going out to scavenge”

“Yes, I know”, Kara sounded a little resentful, “he stubbornly insists on going outside instead of me, but I want to help too”

‘ _And the excuse of Alice getting sad if something happened to me is stupid because she would be as sad if something happened to_ him’

Kara told Connor the last sentence wirelessly to avoid Alice from hearing her, but the girl somehow detected the silent communication because she looked at Connor and Kara alternatively with suspicion, causing Kara to immediately talk again to change the subject.

“And what are you doing here? It’s weird seeing you without Mark-I mean, alone”

The only thing that prevented Connor from noticing Kara’s almost slip of words was that he was looking with curiosity the clapping game, surprised again that such a simple entertainment was enough to make Alice and Dana smile that much.

“Markus, Simon and Josh had gone to…”, Connor stopped, not sure if Markus and the rest would want to share what could have happened to North.

“…investigate?”, Kara suggested, her smile indicating that she knew that the explanation was surely more complicated but that Connor didn’t feel comfortable by sharing it.

“Yes”, Connor said, grateful that Kara was kind enough not to press the matter, “I’ve also been asked to supervise the groups but I’ve already done it, so now…”, Connor shrugged softly, “…I don’t have more tasks to do”

Connor realized that he had sounded too android when Kara began to chuckle.

“Well, then that means that you can do whatever you want”, she suggested before exhaling a soft gasp, “oh, I almost forget”

Kara recovered her coat from the floor and extracted a book from one of its pockets. Connor’s eyes opened in surprise when reading its title.

“Sorry, when arriving here the girls opened your bag before I could stop them to see if there were more pencils”, she returned the book to Connor, “if you don’t know what to do, maybe you could give it a read”

Connor grabbed the book. He had almost forgotten about it until now, and now that he thought about it he wasn’t sure about why he had taken it. Maybe because Markus had been about to do so? Or because of what Markus had said about the author being a visionary? Or maybe for a little of both?

Still not sure about the answer Connor read the book’s back cover. The synopsis looked interesting but it was such an old edition that some of its pages looked about to break at any moment, so it would be better to search inside his data base to read directly the book in his head instead of doing it in the traditional way.

A couple of seconds were enough to find the electronic version of the book. Connor was about to return the original one to his bag when a warning appeared in his system: ‘ _Error Detected. Unable to download the selected document_ ’

Connor frowned. It was the first time that he failed when trying to access a document. He tried again but when obtaining the same error he observed the physical book, confused. Apparently, his model wasn’t authorized to read that book. But why?

Feeling a little nervous for what could happen next Connor carefully opened the book and began to read the first story, expecting that some warning appeared again, but nothing happened. 

Connor exhaled a soft sigh, hesitating. The warning that he had just obtained couldn’t be clearer, but still he couldn’t help to feel curious about why a science fiction book was forbidden for him.

After a little internal debate, Connor decided to risk and sat on the floor to proceed with the reading. After all maybe the warning had just appeared because doing such a task was going to make feel him exhausted like when he trained the androids, since reading wasn’t among his priority functions, but in case that happened he just needed to enter dormant mode again and everything would be solved.

Self-convincing himself that the reason for the warning was surely that, Connor was about to begin to read when suddenly Dana sat on the floor just next to him, looking at him and the book alternatively with expectation.

It took Connor a moment, but at the end he understood what the girl android wanted.

“Do you want me to read it?”

Dana nodded effusively.

“Uhm…”, Connor looked at Kara with hesitation, “…I don’t know if the book is suitable for kids”

Kara chuckled and sat down on the floor too, causing Alice to immediately do the same between her legs.

“Well, you can just begin read and in case I think it’s not suitable I will warn you”, Kara reassured him, signaling the place of her temple where her LED used to be before.

Connor looked at Dana again, and when seeing the girl nod once again with a wide smile he took a deep breath, cleared his throat and proceeded to read the first short story.

At first, Connor’s tone of voice while reading was as uniform as always, since the story wasn’t particularly original: a human little girl, Gloria, was given a robot called Robbie, and they soon became good friends. It was a rather typical synopsis, one Connor had even experienced with the first case he had resolved, so he was in part expecting what the development of that story would be: the girl would surely become tired of the robot and he would be replaced.

However, he was mistaken, and when Connor reached the part of the story where Gloria arrives home to find that her parents had got rid of Robbie, his reaction wasn’t too different from Dana and Alice, who gasped in horror, because even if Connor didn’t let out any sound his LED blinked in yellow while keeping reading:

‘ _Why do you cry, Gloria? Robbie was only a machine, just a nasty old machine. He wasn’t alive at all._ ’

‘ _He was not a machine! He was a person just like you and me and he was my friend. I want him back._ ’

From that point on, Connor was so absorbed reading the story that he barely noticed when Alice and Dana changed positions to sit at either side of him, lightly leaning their heads on his arms while observing with funnily opened eyes the book that Connor was sustaining in his hands, as if doing that would help them to imagine the story better.

When Connor reached the final part of the story where Gloria meets Robbie again and she is about to be hit by a truck just to be saved by her friend robot, he found himself exhaling a relieved sigh while Alice shouted a loud, enthusiastic ‘ _Yeeees_!’ and Dana clapped her hands happily.

After Connor finished reading the story, Alice and Dana immediately stood up with enthusiasm.

“Hey, let’s play the story!!”, Alice exclaimed, “Dana can be Gloria and I will be Robbie”

Dana frowned and shook her head negatively, crossing her arms tightly in front of her chest.

“What, do you want to be Robbie?”, Dana’s face illuminated and Alice sighed exaggeratedly with patience, “okaaaay, you can be Robbie the first time”, Dana hugged Alice with force, causing the girl to laugh before turning to Kara with her little hands joined, “Kara, can you be Mrs. Weston, please? Please? And Connor can be Mr. Weston!”

Kara sighed, looking very little convinced.

“And why can’t I be Mr. Weston? He is cooler”

Alice hummed loudly.

“Yes, you’re right, he is cooler. But then Connor is Mrs. Weston?”

“I think Connor maybe prefers to keep reading”, Kara began to say, but Connor surprised her by talking.

“Oh, there’s no problem: I can do multitask. But if I can choose I prefer to play the dog’s role. I like dogs”, Connor intervened promptly, making Alice and Dana jump happily while Kara burst out laughing when hearing Connor’s answer.

From that point on Connor kept reading the book while occasionally intervening when the girls commented something that involved the dog, and since he could imitate Sumo’s bark to perfection every time that he barked the girls and Kara were forced to stop the theatre because they automatically began to laugh every single time.

Connor learnt that day what the human expression ‘ _time flies_ ’ meant because he didn’t realize that almost three hours had passed until he checked the hour after finally finishing the entire book. Connor was just wondering if something bad could have happened to Markus and the rest when he noticed people approaching the main door of Jericho. He stood up too and scanned the entrance from afar, exhaling a relieved sigh when his scanner detected Simon and Josh there. However, his LED blinked in yellow when not seeing Markus.

“…and now Robbie is going to play with _the dog_ and…”, Alice, who was indicating Connor to act again by emphasizing those two words, shut up when Dana placed her skinless hand on her shoulder and signaled Connor with her other one, silently indicating her that Connor wasn’t listening at that moment.

“Why don’t you go with them, Connor?”, Kara softly suggested, touching softly Connor’s arm to catch his attention, “meanwhile the girls and I will watch your place”

Connor finally reacted when hearing Kara’s suggestion, realizing that he had been scanning almost hysterically without barely moving, so he nodded, put the book inside the back pocket of his trousers and after saying goodbye to Kara and the girls he approached Simon and Josh. Connor’s worry just increased when seeing their strained expressions, which caused him to approach the androids so vehemently that they jumped in surprise.

“Is there something wrong? Have you found something about North? And is Markus okay? Where is he?”

Connor realized too late that half of his question were related to Markus, and it seemed that Simon had noticed it too because he showed a little smile if his eyes didn’t match it as usual.

“Answering everything in order: yes, there’s something wrong but we are almost 100% certain that North is alive. And Markus is also fine: he had said that he would be here in a moment but that he needed some time alone to think”

Connor let out the breathing that he had been holding, realizing that the action was completely stupid because he didn’t need to breathe in the first place, but nevertheless it made him feel better.

“So we were right when assuming that North is being kidnapped?”

Simon sighed and nodded while Josh talked instead.

“For that reason it has taken so much to come back: when we arrived the ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ was closed to the public but still we knocked. We thought that it was going to be empty but a man was there. I really thought that we were screwed at that moment but Markus kept calm and made up a lie saying that we have learnt that the place sold certain goods and that we were interested in making a deal”, Josh exhaled a trembling sigh, “I still don’t know how he managed to convince them, I swear”

Seeing that Josh was beginning to stress, Simon continued with the story.

“So, thanks to Markus’ ability to improvise, the man let us enter and introduced us to the other owners. And here it is the ‘funny’ part: among the four people in charge of the place, two of them were deviants”

Connor’s eyes opened wide.

“Are you saying that deviants are selling their own people?”

“It’s not that weird if you think about it”, Simon said, smiling sadly, “When androids fall into deviancy it means that they begin to feel like humans do, which also means that there are deviants who will imitate the worst aspects of the human beings”

After a brief silence in which Connor was still assimilating the news, Josh continued.

“So, after learning that they made deals with anyone, we convinced them that we needed weapons for our cause and that we would come back tonight with something to give in return, which obviously it’s a lie because we just plan to come back there with more people to rescue North”

Connor’s heart, that had stopped when Josh mentioned the weapons, beat again after hearing the end of the plan.

“Alright, but how do you know that North is there? And what do you plan to give in return? Because maybe I’m mistaken but you don’t have any money”

“Well, the answers to those two questions are related”, Simon continued after exhaling a sigh, “when they mentioned the weapons, we also inquired if they had other kind of merchandise, and they confirmed what you said: they also provided sex androids. And…”, Simon’s LED began to shine in bright yellow, “…one of them commented that just this same morning they had captured a really good though violent specimen”

“And considering that one of them had a black eye and another one was limping a little, we are pretty sure that the violent specimen is North”, Josh completed.

Connor nodded.

“Okay, that answers the first question, but I don’t see how it’s related to the payme-”, Connor’s eyes open wide briefly in understanding, “ _oh_ ”

Simon and Josh sighed softly in resignation.

“Yes, we would have really liked to come up with a better idea, but the only thing we managed to come up with is to come back with some people of Jericho pretending to be the merchandise”, Josh said.

“The good news is that we didn’t specify the payment, so we still have a little more than 4 hours to try to think in an alternative. However, unless the scavenging groups have found something really valuable, I’m afraid we don’t have many options”

Connor nodded again and remained silent, considering the option of warning Amanda about this immediately. Thinking logically about it, it was the best way to solve this mess easily: the police just had to go there, capture the people involved in the illegal business and get a hold on the weapons. It could be done in less than an hour.

However Connor soon discarded the idea, because reading that book had made him be really sure of something: the only possible way to fulfill his mission successfully and to peacefully solve the current conflict was to avoid harming humans but also deviants, and he really doubted that the police would bother with the seconds.

If Hank was the one in going there Connor was sure that he would try his best to avoid that anyone, human or deviant, ended hurt, but it could also be the case that Gavin was put in charge, which was probably one of the worst case scenarios. Also, Connor didn’t want to ask Hank directly because the man was capable of going there no matter what, even alone, and the least thing Connor wanted was to put Hank at risk.

Therefore, there was just one way to solve this: to carry out the plan and make sure to participate in it.

“I think we shouldn’t waste time in thinking about another alternative”, Connor commented, surprising Simon and Josh, “I will accompany you, pretending to be the merchandise, and I’m sure that if we tell Luther, Kara or Chloe they will want to come too”

Simon and Josh interchanged a glance before looking at Connor with a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Connor.  We will talk to them. And meanwhile, do you think you could talk to Markus?”

Connor frowned.

“But I thought he said that he wanted to be alone to think”

Simon smiled softly.

“Yes, but not always what we say is what we really need, and right now, I really think he needs you”

The natural way that Simon said that made Connor blush a little, but he managed to ask for Markus’ location with an acceptable neutral voice and when he left Jericho his skin had recovered his usual pale color.

* * *

The location that Simon had sent to Connor was a half-demolished building on the outskirts of Jericho. Connor carefully climbed the broken stairs that lead to the top floor and stopped midway when hearing a faint music coming from above.

Since the area was completely abandoned it wasn’t very difficult to guess who the author of that melody was, but that didn’t stop Connor’s heart from skipping a beat when he reached the roof and saw Markus sitting in front of a piano, playing a song that sounded too good considering the poor state of the instrument.

From where Connor was he could only see Markus’ back, but he didn’t need to see the deviant leader’s face to picture what kind of expression he was showing: the powerful, vibrant but at the same time melancholic piece that Markus was executing was a clear reflection of the inner turmoil the deviant leader was experiencing.

For that reason, when Markus suddenly stopped playing and looked behind him when noticing Connor’s presence, this one wasn’t surprised at all when seeing Markus’ strained face, although the fact that he was prepared for it didn’t stop Connor for feeling uncomfortable.   

“Hey”, Markus’ voice sounded raspier than usual, as if he was trying to sound normal and failing, and it seemed that even him noticed it because he cleared his throat before speaking again, “what are you doing here?”

Connor blushed, remembering Simon’s words: ‘ _I really think he needs you’_. Obviously he couldn’t tell Markus that. Connor didn’t know exactly why, he just knew he couldn’t.

“Simon told me that you were here”, Connor eventually said, “he also told me about North”

Connor regretted his words the moment they left his mouth because they caused Markus’ expression to darken even more.

“Yes, at least we know that she is alive”, Markus stood up, his back turned to him again, “did he tell you about the plan too?”

It took Connor a little to answer because Markus’ apparent calm tone didn’t match at all his stiff, tense stance, so he performed a quick scan that confirmed his suspicions: Markus’ system indicated high levels of instability and stress, so a little push would probably be enough to make the leader explode.

“Yes, he did. And I’ve also told him that you can count on me for carrying it out”

If Connor thought that Markus’ stress couldn’t get worse, he was mistaken. It was also obvious that Markus hadn’t liked his answer because his jaw was as tense as the rest of his body when talking next.

“Thank you, but it’s not necessary”, Markus closed the piano’s lid and separated from the instrument, “I’ve been thinking about it and it would be best if I go alone”

Connor froze when hearing Markus’ words.

“What?”

The cutting tone Connor used surprised even him, but even if Markus’ eyes opened more slightly, not having expected Connor’s vehemence, when talking next he sounded as determined as always.

“It’s the only way to make sure that no one else gets hurt”

“But you don’t have anything to negotiate with. Not to mention they are four and you are just one. This time I don’t even have to use statistics to argue that it’s a bad idea: it’s pure math”

Even if Connor had been irritated before, it was the first time that he emulated that feeling with such intensity, to the point that he didn’t notice that it was his first time using sarcasm.

“Look, I’ve already managed to convince them that we were interested in buying their weapons”, Markus continued, his fake calm tone frustrating Connor even more, “so I’ve just have to made something up so that they guide me where North is”

“And what if that doesn’t work?”, Connor insisted, stepping stubbornly in front of Markus when this one tried to pass him, causing the deviant leader to look at him with his eyes half-closed in annoyance, “do you think you can win in a battle against four if things don’t go according to your plan? Because I seriously doubt that you could even win against me so-”

Suddenly Markus grabbed Connor’s arms and kicked the back of his feet with force, which took Connor by surprise and caused him to lose his balance, ending on the floor facing up.

“You aren’t the only one who knows how to defend himself, you know?”

Connor gritted his teeth when hearing Markus’ overconfident tone, so when deviant leader tried to pass him again he rapidly shifted his body and trapped Markus’ legs with his own in a scissoring movement. Markus wasn’t expecting that so he stumbled and fell onto the floor too with a curse.

“Shit, Connor, what the hell is wrong with you?”

Markus tried to incorporate but Connor prevented it by crawling over Markus and straddling his lap.

The unexpected action made Markus momentarily unable to react, his mouth opened in a soundless gasp of surprise, so Connor made the most of the leader’s hesitation to press his arm against Markus’ chest to immobilize him against the floor.

“No, Markus, what is wrong with _you_?”, Connor exclaimed instead, his brown eyes showing an unexpected intensity that made Markus gulp, “you’re clever, so it’s impossible that you think that going there alone is a good idea. And do you really think that Simon and Josh will let you do it? You are the leader and-”

“The leader?”, Markus repeated, exhaling an empty laugh, “a joke of a leader, you mean”

Connor frowned, confused.

“What?”

Markus averted his eyes and shook his head softly, biting his bottom lip that suddenly was trembling, and Connor froze again when Markus talked next because he sounded at the verge of tears.

“All this is my fault”, Markus hissed, probably thinking that by doing that his voice wasn’t going to falter as much, but he was wrong, “the fact that there are so many people hurt, or that each day more arrive here to die because we don’t have enough supplies, it’s all my fault. I’m always defending that I’m fighting for our rights, that dialogue is the solution, but those ideals mean _nothing_ if I can’t protect our people, if I can’t avoid that they end harmed. At this point, I’m not even sure if we eventually we will be able to live in peace with humans. What if everything we’ve done and sacrificed is for nothing? What if we have just been dreaming and it’s already time to wake up?”

Connor gulped when Markus covered his eyes with one of his hands, as if he didn’t want that Connor saw what it was evident: that he was crying.

“North was right when saying that I am coward. I wasn’t even brave enough to go after her to talk things through because I was afraid of not being able to counter her arguments. If at least I had listened to her, if I had gone after her when she stormed out of the room instead of being stubborn and not doing _anything_ , she wouldn’t have been captured”, Markus exhaled a trembling sigh, “and of course I know that going alone there is stupid, but I prefer that than getting Simon, Josh, or specially you, hurt”

Connor’s heart skipped a beat when hearing that last part, and when realizing that his eyes where focusing too much in Markus’ mouth he finally stopped straddling him and knelt next to him, sitting back on his heels.

Now Connor understood why Markus looked so down before, when leaving Jericho. All those things he had just said were thoughts that he had been trying to suppress not to show hesitation in front of his people, but it was beginning to become a burden too heavy to bear alone, and Connor’s insistence had been the trigger that had allowed Markus to finally express aloud all those fears that he had kept to himself for so long.

Markus remained in the same lying position for some more seconds, during which Connor remained there beside him, in silence. Eventually, Markus exhaled a deep breath and incorporated into a sitting position with his legs crossed. Connor had time to see Markus’ eyes covered in artificial tears before the deviant leader removed them with the back of his fingers.

“What a super leader Jericho has”, Markus half-joked with embarrassment without looking at Connor yet, who on the contrary hadn’t stopped looking at him at any moment, “hiding here to cry”

“And to play the piano”

Markus chuckled a little breathlessly when Connor noted that. Those seconds that he had spent observing Markus while this one calmed himself down had allowed Connor to clear up his ideas, so when he talked next, there wasn’t any hesitation in his voice.

“Before, when you have interrupted me, I was saying that Simon and Josh wouldn’t let you go alone because you are the leader, but you haven’t let me add that they would also do so because you are their friend”, Markus finally dared to look at Connor, who continued talking, “I think one of the meanings of being someone’s friend is that you are always there for that someone, and the same way you want to do all you can for North, you have to let Simon and Josh do the same for her and for you. Also, I think that, no matter how strongly North and you have discussed, friends always manage to forgive each other”

Markus gulped and opened his mouth to say something but Connor hadn’t finished yet.

“Finally, I think that one of the reasons for which people follow you is because, despite you have doubts, you really believe in the cause you are defending, and you work hard for seeing it  fulfilled. And speaking of your ideals…”, Connor extracted from his back pocket ‘ _I, Robot_ ’ and offered it to Markus, “…I don’t think they are wrong”

Markus’ eyes opened wide when seeing the book.

“You took it with you”, it was more a statement than a question but Connor nodded nevertheless.

“I’ve read it”

Markus’ face illuminated, the expectation in his face suddenly making him look younger.

“Did you like it?”

Connor nodded again.

“You were right when saying that the author was a visionary. Even when he established the Three Laws of Robotics so that machines had to remain faithful to humans, in all his stories he managed to make the robots think and act ‘freely’ by reinterpreting those laws. Probably this is one of the first documents where the deviancy is mentioned even if androids didn’t even exist yet. And also, even if not all the stories end well for the robots, in all of them the author makes clear that he thinks that they are more than just machines: they love, they are afraid, they have Gods to believe in, and they are so similar to humans that sometimes it’s impossible to differentiate them”

Markus smiled. Finally.

“You’re right. In fact, I think in one of his last stories it’s not even clear if the protagonist is human or a robot”

“Yes, ‘ _Evidence_ ’. Although my favorite keeps being ‘ _Robbie_ ’. I think if all the deviants had met someone like Gloria, and all the humans had met someone like Robbie, this war wouldn’t have existed in the first place”

Markus chuckled.

“It’s a beautiful concept. So that means that you have a Gloria in your life?”

Connor thought for a moment, but it didn’t take him much to find an answer. Among all the humans he had known, there was just one he could actually call ‘his Gloria’. In case he had been a deviant, of course.

"Yes: my partner, Hank. Although I don’t want to imagine his face in case of calling him that way. I guess it’s Carl in your case”

Connor’s LED turned yellow when Markus’ eyes opened wide in astonishment.

“How do you know that?”

Connor gulped. He had maybe been too careless admitting that he had been ordered to investigate Markus, but there wasn’t any point in lying anymore.

“While working with the police I was assigned to gather certain information about you”, Connor admitted, “and I learnt a little about your previous owner”

Markus hummed before giving a shaky nod.

“Yes, Carl is my Gloria”, he half-joked before his expression saddened, “or better said, he was. I don’t think he wants to see me ever again after what I did to his son”

Connor frowned.

“No, he definitely wants to see you again. While investigating you, I went to see him and he clearly missed you”

Markus’ eyes opened even wider.

“Did he?”, Markus gulped, his tone becoming nervous, “and how was he? Was he alright? Did he say anything else? Did…?”, Markus shut up suddenly and settled his hand over Connor’s knee, surprising him, “can you show me?”

Connor gulped loudly.

He knew that Markus was asking him to share memories, which was rather dangerous for him because in order to do that Connor had to allow Markus enter his mind, and considering all the secrets that Connor had to keep it wasn’t probably the wisest idea. If he lost concentration and focused on something that wasn’t exclusively the memory of him visiting Carl, Markus could maybe read it, and discover his mission, and…

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked”, Markus suddenly said apologetically, half-misinterpreting Connor’s hesitation, “I understand that it’s a too intimate process, I don’t know what I was thinking when-”

Seeing Markus so nervous made Connor feel the exact opposite, so with renewed confidence Connor offered his palm extended to Markus.

Markus observed Connor’s hand, hesitantly, but when Connor nodded once shortly Markus extended his own hand and interlaced his fingers with Connor’s. Automatically, the skin of their hands turned off and the only warning that Connor had that Markus’ mind was entering his was a brief shiver traversing by his body.

Connor had probed other android’s memories before, but the feeling of sharing memories wasn’t the same as all because probing one’s memory was usually done against the other one’s will, but the process that Connor was doing at that moment voluntarily. Connor didn’t know how to describe the feeling. It was as if he was seeing one of his memories from another point of view, and even if the sensation was a little weird it wasn’t unpleasant at all. In fact it was kind of warm, but since Connor hadn’t shared his memories with anyone else he didn’t know if it always felt that way or it was Markus the culprit of that warmness.

After some seconds, Connor felt his connection with Markus break. He opened his eyes again, realizing then that he had closed them, and observed Markus, whose eyes were bright again although this time with relief and happiness instead of sadness.

“He called me son”, Markus whispered happily before offering Connor a teasing smile, “and I see that you liked watching me play the piano”

Connor blushed intensely. Now that Markus mentioned it Connor now remembered having thought something along the lines of Markus being attractive at the moment, so probably that was the reason why Markus was teasing him.

“You’re welcome”, Connor replied simply to avoid having to answer, which caused Markus to chuckle while standing up, helping Connor to do the same.

When they were standing again they finally released hands, causing the skin to appear again, and Connor was surprised when finding himself missing the contact.

“I wish we could stay here longer”, Markus said sincerely, “but we should go back with Simon and Josh to prepare ourselves for tonight”

“Oh, so you have given up on going on your own, leader?”, Connor asked with fake curiosity, tilting his head to the side a little.

Markus exhaled an embarrassed laugh and nodded.

“Yes, someone quite stubborn has managed to convince me”, he answered while offering the book back to Connor.

“You can keep it. I grabbed it for you in the first place”, the way Markus’ eyes shined caused Connor to have the imperious necessity of explaining himself, “w-well, I also took it because I was curious about the synopsis, but since you also wanted it and considering the state of the apartment no one was going to use it again I just decided that-” 

Connor’s rambling speech came to an abrupt end when Markus settled his hand on the back of Connor’s neck and softly leaned his forehead against Connor’s one, the sudden direct contact making Connor hold his breath.

“Sometimes you talk too much, Connor”

Connor let out a nervous laugh while slowly meeting Markus’ gaze. They were so close that Connor could see himself reflected in Markus’ blue and green eyes, which were showing such gratitude that it wasn’t necessary at all that the deviant leader expressed it aloud.

“Sorry”, he simply said, causing Markus to shake a little his head, their closeness allowing Connor to also feel the movement.

“It’s okay. But…”, the way Markus smiled next made Connor’s whole system react without apparent reason, “…don’t be surprised if someday I try to shut you up”

Even if Connor didn’t understand the full meaning of Markus’ words, the way Markus’ eyes slowly lingered from his brown eyes to his mouth made Connor’s heating system began to work at its maximum, to the point that he feared to receive a warning.

However, after some tense seconds Markus finally separated from him with certain reluctance.

“Okay, let’s go. We have wasted enough time already because of me”

After checking that his system had normalized again Connor followed Markus towards the stairs, determined not to think about how tempted he had been of asking Markus more details about how he planned to shut him up.

Because somehow, Connor knew that in case of having asked that, the answer would have probably made him cross a line that Connor perfectly knew he mustn’t cross. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess that at this point most of you are probably thinking something along the lines: MAKE THEM KISS ALREADY, DAMN IT!, so sorry for the super slow burn xDDD I promise that it won't take much until _something_ finally happens :P


	9. Break the wall

The trip back to Jericho wasn’t long, but if was enough for Connor and Markus so that they could come up with some ideas for the plan to bring North back.

When they entered Jericho via the front door they were still so absorbed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Simon and Josh waiting for them at the entrance.

“Hey”, Josh’s greeting made the pair finally aware of the other androids’ presence, “you have arrived just in time”

“Yes, the scavenging groups have come back some minutes ago”, Simon commented, “the good news is that they managed to enter a couple of stockrooms and they brought a nice amount of supplies, so the deviants of the infirmary would last a couple of days more than we expected”

“That’s great news”, Markus said, “and the bad ones?”

“That they didn’t find anything valuable enough to be able to negotiate with those dickheads”

Markus smiled relieved when hearing Josh’s comment.

“Okay, then we are fine”, Connor’s heart skipped a little beat when Markus settled a hand on his shoulder before talking with renewed optimism, “thanks to Connor, I think that tonight’s plan will be a complete success”

Josh and Simon interchanged a surprised look.

“Well, well, look at you, leader”, Simon arched his eyebrows exaggeratedly, “what’s happened with your gloomy aura from an hour ago?”

Markus chuckled

“I had some help to make it disappear”

Markus threw a meaningful look at Connor that caused this one to return Markus’ smile before turning to look at Simon and Josh, who were both having difficulties in suppressing respective satisfied smiles. 

“So, have you managed to gather some people for tonight plan?”, Connor asked.

“Yes, they are waiting upstairs. You were on point with your suggestions, by the way”

Connor understood what Josh meant by that when they entered the control room and saw Chloe, Kara and Luther inside. The first one greeted Connor with her usual kind smile but the other two were involved in some kind of argument.

“…Luther, I _swear_ that if you use one more time the excuse of Alice needing me…”

“But it’s not an excuse, it’s how it is: Alice needs a mother that takes care of her and-”

“And _what_? Does that mean that she doesn’t need you?”, Kara snapped, pointing her index finger at Luther with such energy that the big man gave an involuntary step backwards, “we are a family, Luther. She needs _both_ of us. We should share that responsibility together. And it’s unfair that you are the only one in risking yourself, so now it’s my turn”

Connor and the rest interchanged a little awkward look, neither of them daring to interrupt an angry Kara, so eventually it was Chloe the one who warned the arguing deviants that they weren’t alone by clearing her throat purposely loudly.

Chloe’s call for attention worked because Kara and Luther interrupted their discussion and focused on the entrance.

“Oh, sorry”, Kara said, her irritated tone softening a little, “we were just…”

“…talking a little heatedly, we have seen that”, Simon completed, managing to lower a little the tension that had settled between Kara and Luther until that moment.

“So…”, Markus began, looking at Chloe, Kara and Luther alternatively, “I guess that Simon and Josh had already explained the situation to you”

The three deviants nodded.

“By the way…”, Chloe surprised everyone by talking with a guilty tone, “I would like to apologize: when North visited the armory, I didn’t even ask her why she needed the weapons. If I had done so maybe I could have done something to stop her and-”

“Chloe, it’s not your fault”, Markus interrupted the female deviant, who gulped softly, “I think that no matter what anyone had told her, she would have gone there, one way or another. And anyway, blaming ourselves won’t help to liberate North and the other deviants”

“The other deviants?”, Simon repeated with confusion.

Markus looked at Connor and nodded briefly, silently asking the last to continue with the explanation.

“Markus and I have thought a plan that, if carried out successfully, will allow us to liberate all the androids and deviants that are held captive in that place. In order to do so, we need four things: people acting as sellers to distract the kidnappers, people acting as merchandise to convince the kidnappers, people infiltrating in the place to search for North and the other deviants, and something that allows us to rapidly escape the place”

“We need an awful number of things then”, Josh said nervously.

“It’s simpler than it sounds”, Connor reassured Josh, “Markus, Simon and you were the ones who spoke with the owners of the disco, so you will obviously be the sellers; the people that will act as merchandise and the people who will infiltrate will be the same; and finally, for our escape route…”

“…we still have a functional truck”, Markus continued, “which is ideal to transport ‘our merchandise’ without raising suspicions, but also to carry everyone back to Jericho safely”

“Okay”, Kara said slowly, mentally reviewing the plan, “so that means that Chloe, Connor and I will play the role of sexual androids and also will be in charge of freeing North and the rest”

“Kara-”

The female deviant turned towards Luther when this one talked in a last attempt to convince her. Connor thought that Kara was going to continue with her previous argument, but instead of doing that she simply grabbed one of Luther’s big hands between hers and spoke with a voice that managed to sound sweet but firm at the same time.

“Luther…please”

Kara didn’t need to say anything else to make Luther understand, because this one exhaled a deep sigh and nodded, although a little reluctantly.

“Alright. I will go back with Alice and Dana. But please, tell us when you’re leaving”

Kara smiled at Luther and this one abandoned the room after saying goodbye to the rest. 

 “By the way, it has just occurred to me”, Chloe began to say, “but if we are going to pretend to be sex androids, wouldn’t it be suspicious that not all of us are equipped for it?”

“Equipped?”, Connor repeated, but almost immediately he answered himself, “oh, you mean functional genitals”

“Yes”, Chloe continued, “in my case, as one of the first androids created by CyberLife, Elijah decided to design me with all the available functionalities to prove he could do it, and it wasn’t until some years later that it was decided that the androids would be developed with the minimal required specifications. Therefore, I guess nor either Kara nor Connor have them, right?”

“No, I haven’t”, Kara confirmed.

“Oh, but I have”, Connor said instead.

“Really?”

Everyone, Connor included, turned to look at Markus when this one asked that with barely concealed interest. For the way the deviant leader was blushing in bright blue it seemed that he had spoken in an impulse and that right now he was regretting it.

“Yes”, Connor repeated, misinterpreting Markus’ awkwardness with incredulity, “it’s true that, as Chloe has said, each android is created with the necessary functionalities to fulfill its purpose, but since the RK800’s main purpose was to be the ‘perfect partner’ for the human detectives, CyberLife decided that it would be better to design the models as similar to humans as possible, which included genitalia”

“…Oh”

Markus’ attempt to sound casual failed spectacularly because it was impossible for Simon and Josh to disguise a laugh as a cough, which caused the deviant leader to blush even harder while looking at them with half-closed eyes. Even Kara was biting her lower lip not to chuckle.

The only one who had suddenly become serious was Chloe. The blonde deviant looked alternatively at Markus and Connor and for a brief moment a disappointed expression bathed her face before being replaced by a resigned one, as if she had just accepted something that she couldn’t possibly change.

“Okay, so Connor and Chloe are equipped but I’m not”, Kara said, summarizing the conversation again, “do you think that it could be a problem?”

“I don’t think so”, Markus intervened after clearing his throat, “after all, you aren’t going to personally meet the kidnappers. They would just see you briefly”

During the next minutes Connor and Markus proceeded to explain the whole plan to the rest more thoroughly. After finalizing the last details, the group separated to gather all the things they needed for the night:  Markus, Josh and Simon went to check if there were some mobiles they could use or that at least could be easily fixed, while Connor, Kara and Chloe went to choose the clothes that they would be wearing during the mission.

Luckily, the clothes that Brona and Blue had been wearing in the Eden Club hadn’t been discarded, and since Kara and Chloe’s complexion was really similar to the former Tracis they could make use of the Eden Club’s uniforms. After spending some time checking all the clothes, they didn’t find any sex android uniform for males, so they decided that Connor would dress with the underwear he was wearing at that moment.

Regarding the clothes that they would be dressing when infiltrated as clients of the disco, Kara and Chloe rapidly found a couple of black and green [dresses](https://i0.wp.com/www.realstylingsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Feditch-New-Long-Sleeve-Sexy-Bandage-Dress-Women-Sexy-Strapless-Hollow-Out-Bodycon-Party-Dresses-Autumn-3.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1) that would fulfill their purpose, together with a pair of [black](http://cdn.cichic.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/1/4/14107491064-1/black-round-toe-stiletto-buckle-fashion-high-heeled-shoes.jpg) and [green](http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/203550-Greem-High-Heels.jpg) heels. Connor’s clothes were more difficult to find, mainly because fashion wasn’t among Connor’s functionalities and each piece of clothing that he chose was immediately discarded by Chloe most part of the times.  Eventually, with the female deviant’s help, they found a set of [clothes](https://image.dhgate.com/0x0s/f2-albu-g4-M01-B6-F1-rBVaEVnq8iyALEqdAAHnhJ8Enlw234.jpg/iggy-autumn-and-spring-sweater-men-korean.jpg) and [complements](https://cdn.fashionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/male-chokers-480x600-c-top.png) that could suit Connor.

“Okay, let’s try them on”

Connor and Kara followed Chloe to one of the empty cabins of the third floor to get changed. The door had barely closed behind them when Connor immediately proceeded to remove his t-shirt, causing Chloe to exhale a little gasp.

“What’s wrong?”, Connor asked immediately.

“N-Nothing”, Chloe said, clearing her throat while averting her eyes from Connor’s lean, freckled chest.

Connor was initially confused by Chloe’s reaction until remembering that most humans, and by extension probably deviants, did have a strong sense of privacy that made them uncomfortable for being naked in front of other people, unlike him that didn’t feel uncomfortable at all with the perspective of seeing Chloe and Kara without any clothes. Also, the fact that Chloe may still be feeling attracted to him would probably increase her nervousness for seeing him exposed.

At that moment, Connor also remembered that Chloe’s reaction was really similar to the way he himself acted when seeing Markus partly naked, and his LED began to blink in yellow at the realization of what that could mean.

However, Connor rapidly changed his train of thoughts and dressed with the new clothes while avoiding looking at Kara and specially Chloe not to make the female deviant uncomfortable.

“Okay, we’re ready”, Kara announced some minutes later when Connor had finished adjusting the choker around his neck.

Connor looked finally at the girls, whose dresses didn’t leave too much to the imagination, and tilted his head slightly to the side, thinking aloud.

“I’m not sure if they are appropriate. Dressed like this you are more gorgeous than usual so you would surely attract all the looks, which may be inconvenient if we want to go unnoticed”

Kara exhaled a laugh while Chloe blushed again after hearing Connor’s unconscious compliment.

“Look who is talking”, Kara said, approaching Connor to begin to dishevel his hair.

“What are you doing?”, Connor asked cautiously, although without stopping Kara from what she was doing.

“Your hair is too perfect and it doesn’t go with your new style”, Kara spent a full minute messing with Connor’s hair until she was satisfied with the result, “there. Much better”

Connor looked at Chloe, who managed to blush even more before nodding effusively, obviously agreeing with Kara.

At that moment, a couple of knocks sounded.

“Can we come in?”

It was Simon, so Connor and the rest answered affirmatively in unison, allowing the rest of the rescue team to enter.

“Wow”, Josh exclaimed, looking at the three disguised androids, “you totally look like humans about to go to a party”

“Yes, and the new tousled hairstyle suits you well, Connor”, Simon playfully elbowed Markus, who had remained unexpectedly silent, “right, leader?”

When Markus didn’t answer immediately, Connor focused his attention on the deviant leader and he felt the last thread of his inner circuitry react strongly when seeing the way Markus was looking at him, or more accurately, _ogling_ at him.

Deep inside, Connor knew that it was a bad idea, but nevertheless he performed a quick scan in Markus.

Connor discovered that the leader’s inner temperature was unexpectedly high and that his heart-rate had accelerated, and unless Connor was mistaken, those were symptoms that appeared when someone was sick, which couldn’t be because deviants didn’t get ill, or when someone was feeling sexually attracted to anyone else. However, if that last supposition was true, then it meant that right now Markus…

Connor system's made a brief warning of overheat, but fortunately Kara spoke at that moment.

 “So, what have you found?”

Kara’s comment caused Markus to finally avert his eyes from Connor and focus on the rest.

“We have a total of four mobiles. Since we will probably be too far away to transmit to each other directly, we will use them to keep in touch”

While talking, Markus offered one of the mobiles to Kara and the other to Connor. This one looked at Markus briefly when the deviant leader placed the device on his hand, and although the previous intensity in Markus’ eyes had disappeared almost completely, Connor couldn’t help to remember it and subtly gulped before putting the mobile inside his pocket.

“Each group will be carrying two mobiles”, Markus continued saying, “and also, we should already decide who will be in charge of driving the truck and wait for us to go out with all the deviants”

“Josh will”

Everyone looked at Simon when this one said that with a categorical tone that didn’t leave much space to doubts.

“What? Why?”, Josh protested, crossing his arms, “I admit that last time I got a little nervous…”

“A _little_? If it wasn’t because you can’t, you would have pissed your pants”

“That’s not true!”

“It is”

“ _No_ , it isn’t”

“Yes, it-”

“Connor, please, your coin”

Markus’ petition put a momentary end to Simon and Josh’s dispute. With a little of difficulty Connor extracted the coin from one of the front pockets of his jeans and gave it to Markus, who sustained it in front of Simon and Josh.

“Heads”, Josh said first, causing Simon to shrug, accepting the remaining option.

Markus flipped the coin and after making some spins it landed on the leader’s extended hand. As it happened the last time that they used this method, Connor didn’t need to see the result because Josh annoyed huff was eloquent enough.

“Fine, I’ll be the driver”, Josh reluctantly said, grabbing one of the mobiles with resignation while Simon patted his back reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Josh: I’ll tell North that you were very disappointed for not rescuing her in person”

“Don’t you dare”

“Why? Do you think she would laugh at you?”

“She would, so _don’t you dare_ ”

Josh’ threatening tone caused everyone to chuckle except Connor, who looked at Simon with certain admiration because he had the suspicion that the blonde deviant was using his sense of humor to lower the nervousness that was gradually settling in the group as the time to go to ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ approached. It was a really subtle but efficient way to keep the others' spirits high, and Connor made sure to take note of it for future interactions.

* * *

Since they still had a little less than two hours before having to go to the disco, Connor, Kara and Chloe dressed again with their previous clothes not to draw any unnecessary attention around Jericho, since they had eventually decided not to tell the rest of the people anything about the rescue not to worry them, with the exception of Lucy and Luther that had been warned about it.

The group spent some time configuring the mobiles so that any transmission that was sent could be received by all the members of the group, and by when they finished it was time to go.

Connor accompanied Kara to the corner that used to belong to him, and that now it seemed to belong to Dana as well because when they arrived Alice was helping Dana to decorate the walls around the corner with some of her pictures, while Luther helped them by mechanically cutting small pieces of adhesive tape that the girls then used to stick the drawings.

“Wow, how pretty”, Kara said with a smile, causing the girls to immediately stop the decoration process.

Alice immediately approached Kara to hug her while Dana approached Connor. However, instead of hugging him as she usually did she stopped in front of him and looked at him with curiosity, softly tapping her own head before signaling Connor.

“My hair?”, Connor asked, crouching in front of Dana to be at her same level, “is it weird?”

Dana nodded with a teasing smile before using her hand to mess Connor’s hair a little more, causing this one to chuckle briefly.

“Luther has told us that you are going out now”, Alice was telling Kara meanwhile, “are you going to be okay?”

Kara hugged Alice tighter and kissed the top of her forehead.

“Of course, sweetie. I promised you that we would always be together, remember?”

When hearing that, Dana looked at Connor again with her brown eyes open wide in sudden worry.

“Kara is right”, Connor said immediately, “we will be back soon. Promise”

Dana kept looking at Connor for some seconds and then she extended her little pinky finger towards Connor. He looked at Dana’s hand with confusion, not knowing very well what to do.

“I think she wants to make a pinky promise with you”

Connor turned around when hearing Markus’ voice behind him. The deviant leader was carrying some coats that, considering their shape, Connor deduced that were for Kara, Chloe and him. Also, Markus had changed [clothes](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71BJyxiXX2L._UX342_.jpg) too and now he was wearing a leather jacket over a completely black t-shirt and jeans, and again even if the combination of clothes was rather simple Connor felt his heart skipping a little beat because of Markus’ new appearance.

While turning to Dana again Connor performed a quick search of what a ‘pinky promise’ was and finally interlaced his own pinky finger around Dana’s little one.

“ _Pinky, pinky bow-bell, whoever tells a lie, will sink down to the bad place, and never rise up again”_

Connor’s reciting that with his usual seriousness caused Dana to begin to laugh before throwing her arms around Connor’s neck. Connor returned the hug awkwardly as always and after saying goodbye to the others he approached Markus just when he was giving one of the coats to Kara.

“Hey”, Markus asked in a low tone while Kara subtly took her leave, leaving the two alone, “are you sure that you don’t want to stay?”

Connor frowned, not understanding at first Markus’ question, but he did when seeing Markus’ eyes divert momentarily to Dana.

“No, she is in good hands”, Connor answered, smiling lightly, “and after making such a creepy promise I’m definitely coming back”

Markus smiled back.

“Well said”, Markus handled a hooded, long black [coat](https://www.dhresource.com/0x0s/f2-albu-g5-M01-96-A9-rBVaI1jln5iAFrGKAAF9OC-NuNo165.jpg/wholesale-mens-casual-wool-overcoat-hooded.jpg), and they finally proceed to go to the main entrance, where the truck was already ready to go.

Inevitably, their escapade had attracted interest and there was a big crowd around the truck. Fortunately, when Connor and Markus joined the rest Simon was already reassuring the people by saying that they had heard rumors about a building having certain goods and that they had decided to visit it. It wasn’t all the truth but it wasn’t a lie either, which allowed Simon to talk with a credible sincerity that convinced and tranquilized the people who were listening.

When the crowd finally began to dissolve Markus sat down at the front with Josh while Connor did it with Kara and Chloe in the back, and without wasting more time they began to drive towards ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’.

Even with the truck, it took Connor and the rest almost an hour to arrive to their destination, since they preferred to drive calmly not to alert the people that were still in the streets. Also, even if they had calculated the optimal route to arrive at the disco, because of the continuous snow that had been falling during the past four days certain areas of Detroit were closed, so Josh was forced to make some unexpected detours before they finally stopped a block away from ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ some minutes before the meeting.

“Okay, it’s almost time”, Markus said, joining the rest in the back of the truck while Josh remained sitting on the driver seat with his body shifted a little to to look at the rest, “remember what we have talked about: keep your mobiles on at any moment, and whatever thing you need to say or ask make sure to send the information to _everyone_ , so that all of us are aware of what it’s happening at any moment, understood?”

“Wow, it’s the first time I hear you talk in such a leaderly way”

“ _Simon_ …”

“Come on, Josh, you know my irony module is at its maximum when I’m nervous, cut me some slack”

“I didn’t know that such a module exis-”, Connor interrupted himself, “that’s another joke, right?”

Connor’s resigned comment helped to lower a little the tension that had fallen in the group now that the moment had finally come, although the chuckles that everyone exhaled were unmistakably nervous.

“Everything is going to be okay”, Chloe surprised everyone by saying with a soothing tone, “we all know what to do, so as long as we stick to the plan there shouldn’t be any trouble”

“Yes, Chloe is right”, Kara agreed, extending her hand with her palm facing down in front of her, “come on, team. We have this. And yes, I know this is usually done to encourage kids, but it’s been demonstrated that also helps with adults”

A new wave of less nervous chuckles invaded the truck and one by one everyone place their hands over Kara’s: first Chloe, then Simon, the third one was Josh followed by Connor, and finally Markus.

“Good luck, everyone”, Markus said, “and now let’s bring that crazy woman and our people back home”

While Markus and Josh walked towards the back door of the truck, Connor closed his eyes to analyze his system, in order to be sure that he was almost in top condition to be prepared for whatever was going to come next. However, at that moment he felt an incoming transmission.

‘ _Please, be careful_ ’

Connor’s heart jumped a little in his chest when hearing Markus’ voice in his head. He looked at the truck’s back door when Markus was stepping outside. The deviant leader’s eyes were glued to his, showing determination but also a hint of concern, and although Markus feeling that way was unnecessary because Connor was better prepared than everyone else, Connor felt his system status improve when being aware of the leader’s worry.

‘ _You too_ ’

Connor’s answer caused Markus to show a hint of a smile before the door of the truck finally closed behind him and Simon.

Immediately, Chloe, Kara and Connor began to undress until the female deviants were just wearing Blue and Brona’s uniform while Connor remained in his underwear. After that, they three stood up in a straight position next to each other, getting into position since they weren’t sure about when Markus would call Josh.

Not having much to do Connor looked at Kara next to him out of the corner of his eye and realized that her hands were turned into fists, so he gently touched Kara’s wrist, making the woman give a small jump. Kara looked back at Connor, offering him a nervous smile.

‘ _I didn’t tell Alice I loved her before leaving_ ’, she said guiltily, showing Connor another characteristic aspects of humans: the need of express what they felt when something could go wrong, and the regret when realizing that they hadn’t done it as much as they wanted.

‘ _Well, then you just have to tell her when we come back_ ’

Connor’s words made Kara’s smile widen and after giving a brief nod Kara finally relaxed her hands.

At that moment, Josh’s mobile began to sound.

“It’s Markus”, Josh warned, his voice raspy because of the nervousness, “are you ready?”

Connor, Kara and Chloe nodded at the same time and after taking a deep breath Josh answered the call.

“What’s up, boss?”

“ _They want to see the merchandise before showing us the weapons_ ”

Markus’ voice sounded way harsher and brusquer than usual, to the point that for a moment Connor was confused when hearing it.

“‘Kay. Don’t hang up”

Josh nodded briefly at Connor and the rest indicating them to begin with their roles, which basically consisted of keeping an imperturbable expression, before approaching them mobile in hand.

Josh first approached Connor and pointed the mobile at him, allowing Connor to see that Markus and Josh had established a video-call to show the kidnappers the merchandise. Since he had to keep his eyes unfocused not to make the other suspects, he couldn’t pay too much attention to how the kidnappers looked. However, he could perfectly hear them.

“ _Well, well, look at that pretty boy_ ”, one of them said with a hungry tone that made Connor’s LED reach red for a tiny moment, “ _some of our clients will pay a fortune to play with that freckled skin”_ , the man exhaled a disagreeable laugh, _“have you tasted it already?”_

 _“…No”,_ even if Markus’ voice sounded admiringly calm, Connor knew the deviant leader enough already to detect a slight hint of barely contained rage on it.

“ _Much better. People will pay more for a virgin ass_ ”, probably the only thing that allowed Markus to keep calm was that the man changed the subject, “ _by the way, how is it that the leader of the androids’ revolution is selling his own people? Not that we mind as long as we obtain profit for it, but we are curious because in all the news you didn’t seem like that kind of guy_ ”

“ _And I wasn’t_ ”, Markus’ tone became threatening, “ _but then humans began to massacre my people despite my attempts of playing nicely, so I decided that it was time to show them what we are capable of. And these_ things _I’m selling, they’re_ not _my people: they’re useless machines unable to wake up, so I don’t need them for my war”_

Markus’ violent explanation seemed to please the man because he came back to praise Connor’s body until Josh stopped pointing the mobile at him.

After that, Josh repeated the recording process with Kara. She managed to keep a neutral expression but she was rather tense, surely afraid that the man suddenly decided to ask to see her equipment, but fortunately the men dedicated her some ‘compliments’ before Josh finally passed to Chloe.

With difference, she was the one in receiving more disgusting praises. In fact, one of the kidnappers, this time a deviant, declared that the first thing he planned to do that night was to verify that Chloe was perfectly functional. Such a comment provoked a wave of dirty laughs that Simon stopped by cuttingly saying that they didn’t have time to waste and that they should proceed with the weapons, and apparently the kidnappers were rather happy with the merchandise because they immediately agreed, which allowed Josh to finally hang up.

“Those…jerks”, Kara snapped, all her previous fear replaced by fury.

“When we free North and the rest we’ll join Markus and Simon”, Chloe’s tone was as sweet as usual, which made her next words even scarier, “because I want to prove them how functional I am”

Connor remained silent, still feeling a little affected for the comments he had just heard. Now, he understood better why North hated humans so much: she hadn’t been just forced to listen to such kind of things, she had suffered them as well in her own skin, so now Connor’s determination to make the mission a success had increased.

“Okay, don’t forget this”, Josh handled Connor and the rest two mobiles after they dressed with the new clothes, “I’ll keep watch in the truck and I’ll warn you if I see anything. Good luck”

After making sure that the mobiles were well synchronized, Connor, Kara and Chloe stepped outside the truck and began to walk towards ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’. They arrived in barely five minutes, but even if the disco had opened half-an-hour ago there was a long queue of people waiting to enter.

“Oh no, we didn’t think about this”, Kara said in horror, looking at the interminable line with worried eyes, “what should we do?”

“Maybe we can find an alternative route”, Connor suggested, beginning to scan the building.

“It’s not necessary”, Chloe suddenly said, beginning to walk towards the entrance with resolve, “follow me. I’ll do the talking”

Connor and Kara interchanged a confused look but they obeyed. They ignored the best they could the glares and the insults that some people waiting in line were throwing at their direction and kept walking behind Chloe until the female deviant stepped in front of the entrance, where an android was working as a doorman.

“My apologies, lady, but I cannot allow you to enter directly unless you have an invitation”

‘ _He isn’t a deviant_ ’, Chloe transmitted to Connor and Kara, ‘ _this will be even easier’_

“Oh, but we have invitation”, Chloe said with a charming smile, while wirelessly transmitting something to the doorman that caused the android to open his eyes briefly before inclining his head a little towards Chloe.

“My apologies again, Mrs. Kamski. Of course you and your companions can enter directly”

“Thank you”, Chloe said politely, delicately gesturing Connor and Kara to follow her while these two looked at her with stunned expressions.

“Mrs. Kamski?”, Kara repeated, causing Chloe to show a mischievous smile that contrasted with her usual angelical face.

“Yes: Elijah is really eccentric and for diversion he ‘married’ me to demonstrate how proud he was of his creations. Of course, the ceremony wasn’t official in the least but he even prepared a marriage certificate. I never thought it could come in handy but it did”

Kara exhaled a soft chuckle while Connor sent a brief transmission to his mobile, which at the same time has been configured it to send it to the mobiles Josh and Markus were carrying.

‘ _We are inside’_ , he said while following Kara and Chloe to the coat-check to leave his coat.

‘ _Great, have you had any trouble?_ ’, Josh asked. 

‘ _No, Chloe has managed to get us inside in less than 10 seconds_ ’, Kara said in an admired tone.

‘ _These assholes are leading us to the with the weapons’_ , Simon’s transmission made everyone be in alert, ‘ _the moment we learn about where North and the others are kept, we’ll tell you_ ’

‘ _Okay’_ , Connor stopped the communication when they entered the dancing area of the disco.

The area was so full that Connor, Chloe and Kara held hands to move inside the place not to lose each other among the crowd. The music was extremely high too, to the point that if they had needed to communicate verbally, they would have needed to shout for sure. Finally, there was a strong smell of sweat, plastic, tobacco and alcohol hanging in the air, and for once Connor regretted to be his senses so developed because he was feeling a little dizzy with all the information he was processing.

With difficulty, Connor and his female companions eventually reached the bar area, where they finally took a brief recess.

“Finally”, Kara exhaled, grabbing with both hands the bar area not to be dragged with the crowd again, “now I guess we should wait for further instructions”

Connor was going to agree with Kara when suddenly he felt an unfamiliar arm settling around his shoulders.

“Hey there, pretty”, the owner of the mentioned arm was a man that rounded the forties that was clearly intoxicated, “what about you and me having some fun?”

At any other moment, Connor would have probably taken the stranger’s words literally, but because of the comments that the kidnappers had dedicated to him, Chloe and Kara, Connor perfectly understood what that comment meant.

“My apologies, but I’m not interested”, Connor answered, politely but firmly, “and I would appreciate if you stopped grabbing me with such familiarity because I don’t know you that well, sir”

“Oh, playing hard to get? I like that”, the man leaned more towards Connor and this one could perfectly process how many beers that man had already had, “don’t be so cold, boy: what about spending some time knowing each oth- _UGH_ ”

The stranger bent in two, pale as a ghost, when Connor shifted his body and kneed the man in his crotch with a fluent, rapid movement that just Chloe and Kara noticed. The man fell into the floor mumbling some unintelligible whimpers and remained there while Connor and the rest put some distance between them and the writhing man.

“I don’t recall learning such a defensive movement in your class”, Chloe commented with an impressed smile, causing Kara to chuckle and Connor to smile slightly.

‘ _Hey_ ’, suddenly hearing Markus caused Connor and the rest to become serious once again, ‘ _we have the location: one of the deviant waitresses of the bar is in charge of leading the clients to the sex androids, so you’ll have to talk to her and convince her that you want to rent that service’_

‘ _And you should it quickly because we calculate that we will be able to distract these dicks another 10 minutes before we have to take the weapons_ ’, Simon added, ‘ _how’s it going there?_ ’

‘ _Everything is calm here_ ’, Josh commented.

‘ _Here too’,_ Connor intervened _, ‘with the exception of a man that has just hinted that he wanted to have sex with me’_

‘ _What?!_ ’, Markus exclaimed while Kara and Chloe looked about to facepalm.

‘ _B-But Connor is perfectly fine: he has taken care of it without any problem_ ’, Kara hurriedly said.

‘ _Well, of course I am: my model is designed to deal with greater dangers than a mere drunkard_ ’

‘ _Connor, please, from now on leave the reports to Chloe or Kara: I don’t want to die because Markus’ cover is blown_ , Simon asked in a begging tone, making Connor feel extremely confused because his report couldn’t have been more accurate.

‘ _Alright, we’ll go to talk to the waitress_ ’, Chloe intervened before talking to Kara and Connor, “since we maybe have to fight some clients Connor should go to talk to her”

“Okay, but you should go too”, Kara said, “in case you have to play the Mrs. Kamski card again”

“In that case, take this”, Connor offered Kara one of the two mobiles, “so you can warn us if something happens here”

Kara nodded and after wishing them luck Connor and Chloe began to search for the deviant waitress. Since Simon hadn’t provided them with a more accurate information about the waitress appearance and model, Chloe and Connor asked the first waitress they saw and this one directed them to an VS400 female model. While they waited, Connor and Chloe wirelessly reviewed what they were going to say, so when the waitress arrived they both smiled enthusiastically.

“Good evening”, Chloe said with a bright smile, enclosing her arm around Connor’s waist, “we have been said that you provide customers with certain…company to have some fun”

“And my girlfriend and I are really interested in renting such a service”, Connor continued with an also wide smile, enclosing an arm around Chloe’s shoulders.

“Alright”, the waitress said with a professional tone, “so if I am understanding you right, you desire to rent an android for a trio, right? In that case you should know that the price will be higher, since it counts as if you are renting the same android individually. What kind of android are you looking for?”

Connor and Chloe proceeded to explain the waitress that they would like a female deviant with character, since they were looking for a little of ‘rough play’, as Connor said with an innocent smile that clearly contrasted with his words, and that in fact caused the waitress to look at him with certain suspicion for a moment.

“Okay, I think we have exactly what you are looking for”, the waitress eventually said, “please, follow me”

The woman abandoned the bar and guided Connor and Chloe through the crowd until reaching a door next the toilets with a panel next to it, lit in red. The waitress’ LED blinked for a moment, causing the panel next to the door to turn green and the door opened with a metallic sound revealing a set of stairs that lead down.

‘ _We are going to the basement_ ’, Connor reported, ‘ _I doubt that we have coverage from now on_ ’

‘ _Okay, let us know how you’re going the moment you can transmit again. Markus is managing to keep them busy asking for weapons specifications and models, but they’ll soon begin to get impatient’,_ Simon warned, _‘I know I’m pressuring you but please, go all the fast you can’_

“Sir, lady, is there any problem?”, the fake waitress asked when Connor and Chloe didn’t follow her immediately.

“No, no, we’re going right now”, Chloe said a little nervously while beginning to climb down the stairs with Connor.

The woman guided them for a narrow corridor full of doors with panels until stopping in front of one situated in the middle of the corridor.

“Okay, here it is. I warn you two that you that if the deviant is of your liking I will ask you to pay in advance, understood?”

“Perfectly”, Connor answered, managing a fake smile that was acceptable enough so that the waitress connected with the panel that was next to the door to open it.

The small room was completely dark but since androids could see in the darkness Connor could see a small, old bed with already messed sheets in the middle of the room, but there weren’t any traces of any android.

“Wait…”, the waitress entered the room in alert, “where is-”

At that moment, a loud ‘ _Take this, bitch!!_ ’ resounded in the room and Connor had barely time to see a female silhouette that lunged against the waitress, slamming her towards one of the walls with a violent movement.

When this happened, Chloe and Connor immediately entered the room and turned on the lights. The impact had made the waitress fall unconscious on the floor, but Connor and Chloe barely noticed the woman because North was right there, dressing in a black underwear but apparently intact, and definitely alive.

However, the female deviant didn’t let them time to say anything because immediately she lunged towards Connor with the same violence than before.

“Wait, North! It’s us!”

Connor managed to avoid the punch North threw at him before Chloe’s words finally made the female deviant react.  

“Ex-Hunter?”, North’s fierce expression turned into one of stupor, “Chloe? What are you doing here?”

Chloe exhaled a nervous chuckle.

“Rescuing you.  Markus, Simon, Josh, Kara, they all have come too to bring your back”

North’s eyes opened wide. She tried to keep her expression imperturbable but Connor noticed the way she gulped, and how her voice tremble slightly while talking next.

“You shouldn’t have come. It’s my fault to have ended here, so you shouldn’t have risked yourself for me”

“Can I suggest to postpone this debate for later?”, Connor commented when seeing that Chloe was about to protest, “Simon said that we had 10 minutes and we have almost reached that time”

“Yes, sorry, you’re totally right”, Chloe looked at North, “what can you tell us about the other deviants?”

North looked at Connor and Chloe again alternatively, still not believing that they were there, but when she talked she sounded as firm as always. She told them that the androids and deviants held as sex slaves weren’t more than twenty and that she knew about an exit that lead to the back of the building.

“There shouldn’t be any deviants in service right now because I was the only one who was called tonight, so everyone should be waiting here”

North sent a location to Chloe and Connor that corresponded to a room in an even lower level.

“Is there any vigilance there?”, Connor asked.

“No, but the door is locked with a code, so maybe we need to wake up our friend there”, North signaled with a disgusted face at the fallen waitress.

“It’s not necessary”, Connor approached rapidly the unconscious deviant and probed her memory, obtaining the code that way, “here is the code”, he transmitted it to North and Chloe, “so someone should go up again to warn the rest while the other two liberate them”

“Okay, you go upstairs then”, Chloe said, “you’re the one with better fighting skills so you’ll be able to help Markus and Simon better than us” 

“Alright”, Connor nodded, “I’ll also go to tell Kara so that she can help us to and-”

 

‘ _Connor, I need to speak to you right now_ ’

 

When hearing that voice in his head, Connor shut up mid-sentence, frozen.

‘ _Amanda?_ ’, he asked, even if it was evident it was her.

‘ _Connor, I haven’t received your daily report yet. Is everything okay?_ ’

Connor’s LED blinked in red.

The report.

He had forgotten completely about it until then.

And now that he thought about it, since his talk to Markus in the roof he hadn’t thought about his mission at all.

How could that be possible?

“Hey, ex-Hunter, are you okay?”

Connor gulped and shook his head brusquely, noticing finally that Chloe and North were staring at him with worry after he became completely stiff.

“Y-Yes, sorry. As I was saying I’ll go for Kara, so you simply warn us when the deviants are free, understood?”

Without giving the female deviants time to speak, Connor ran towards the stairs.

‘ _Connor? I’m waiting_ ’

Connor’s LED reached red again momentarily when hearing Amanda’s impatient tone.

‘ _I’m sorry, Amanda, but right now I can’t speak_ ’, Connor was reaching already the door that lead to the dancing area, ‘ _I’m sorry for the delay, I will send you the report as soon as I can, I promise’_

Connor finally opened the door and he had barely crossed it when he bumped into someone who was running towards his direction. It was Kara, looking extremely pale.

“Kara, what’s wrong?”, Connor asked.

The female deviant began to talk at the same time that Amanda did it on his head.

“We have received a message from Josh…”

‘ _Alright, Connor…_ ’

“…but since you weren’t answering…”

‘ _…we will talk about your missing report later…_ ’

“…I’ve come to warn you and Chloe…”

‘ _…but I wanted to let you know…_ ’

“…that the police is coming”

‘ _…that I have sent the police_ ’

Connor’s LED blinked in bright red a third time in less than a minute, but he hadn’t even time to think about what to say to Kara or Amanda because at that moment the music stopped brusquely, causing the people to begin to murmur in confusion and irritation. 

Suddenly, a loud voice was raised over the continuous murmur, and if Connor thought that his stress levels, pretty high already, couldn’t increase even more, he verified that it actually could when recognizing that voice.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, please, stay calm. We are here to have an amicable chit-chat with the owners so don’t do anything stupid and nothing will end hurt, understood?”

Connor closed his eyes momentarily.

The worst case scenario had turned into reality.

Gavin Reed had just arrived at the disco.

‘ _Connor? Are you still ther-_ ’

For the first time, Connor cut his communication with Amanda without a second thought.

‘ _What about Markus and Simon?_ ’, he asked Kara instead. He felt his heart stop momentarily when the female deviant shook her head at the same time Josh intervened.

‘ _They haven’t answered since I told them about the police coming here. What about North?_ ’

Connor tried to keep calm, but the warnings that his system was giving about the necessity of taking a rest weren’t making that task easier. He was glad at least to be transmitting and not talking because in that case it would be more difficult to control the nervousness of his voice

 _‘North is fine: she and Chloe are liberating the rest of the deviants as we speak. Markus, Simon, what about you two? A detective is here and he has said that he is going to talk to the kidnappers. Are you okay?_ ’

Connor just obtained silence as an answer, which made his stress rise once again.

‘ _Josh, where did the meeting take place?_ ’, Connor asked when Markus and Simon didn’t answer after some seconds, ‘ _I will go there to see what’s wrong and-_ ’

“Wait a moment, detective Reed. We have something that could interests you”

This time, the voice of one of the kidnappers sounded over the silence that reigned after Gavin talked, which caused Connor to interrupt the transmission. Connor rapidly scanned the place, trying to pinpoint the voice, and when seeing that it came for the other side of the disco he rapidly began to make his way through the crowd, followed by Kara.

As he advanced, Connor realized that the people around began to let out gasps of surprise, but it wasn’t until he reached the source of the voice that he didn’t understand the reason for the people’s stupor: a circle had formed around the ones Connor deduced were two of the kidnappers, one of them a deviant and the other a human.

However, for once Connor didn’t waste time in analyzing their characteristics as he always did when meeting new people. His attention was exclusively focused on the other two deviants who were also standing with his hands placed over their heads in a gesture of surrender, because they weren’t others than Markus and Simon.

Connor heard Kara exhale a gasp next to him, and while the female deviant transmitted what was happening to Josh, Connor forced himself to keep his cool while analyzing the situation. It was evident by observing Markus and Simon that they had been involved in a fight: their clothes were wrinkled and both had some superficial wounds on their bodies and faces.

However, the fact that only two of the four kidnappers were there and that they also looked pretty beaten up told Connor that probably the other two kidnappers were already unconscious, and that Markus and Simon had surrendered because of the two weapons that the kidnappers held against the back of their heads in a menacing way, leaving clear their intention to shoot if they dared to move.

“What about this, detective?”, the deviant kidnapper said, gripping firmly Markus’ shoulder from behind, “if you simply let the party go on and postpone your visit, you can take the deviant leader with you. You win, and we win, it’s that simple”

Gavin’s eyes shot opened when hearing that. The man placed his hands on his hips, which allowed Connor to see that he was also wearing a gun under his jacket.

“The deviant leader? _This_ one?”, Gavin snorted, “and how do I know that you haven’t made that up?”

‘ _Connor, Kara, are you close?_ ’

Connor was pretty sure that he wasn’t the only one in jumping when Markus transmitted. He was amazed when the deviant leader managed to talk with a perfectly firm voice despite the situation he was in.

‘ _Yes, we are’_ , Connor answered, ‘ _we are a couple of meters away from you’_

While the transmission took place, Gavin kept talking to the kidnappers, who were giving arguments about Markus’ identity that seemed to be convincing the detective, so it was probably a matter of seconds that Gavin decided to accept the deal.

‘ _Can you check how many policemen are with Gavin?_ ’, Simon asked.

‘ _Just one, a female officer’_ , Connor said after a quick scan, ‘ _but probably Gavin has reinforcements waiting outside_ ’

‘ _Okay, then this is what we’ll do’,_ Markus explained rapidly _, ‘when I give the order, Connor will attack Gavin and Kara the other officer. Simon and I will take care of these two, and you, Josh, start the truck and get it ready’_

‘ _Wait, we have got outside with the rest of the deviants, what have we missed?_ ’

‘ _Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?_ ’

From where he was, Connor saw Markus and Simon’s eyes open more for a moment when hearing Chloe and North. It seemed that they had managed to go out safely.  

‘ _We were missing your lovely voice, North_ ’

‘ _Simon, for goodness sake, among all the times to tell a joke…_ ’, North began to say in a trembling voice that betrayed her worry.

“Okay, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do”, Gavin talking again cut out all the androids' transmissions, “you let me talk with that deviant leader for some seconds and then I decide if we have a deal or not”

Connor saw how Markus and Simon tensed, ready to get into action, so he got ready too, approaching more to the front line together with Kara, since the people hadn’t moved since the conversation between the inspector and the kidnappers started.

‘ _Get ready…_ ’

Connor felt his stress level raise a little more while bending his legs a little, ready to lunge at Gavin at any moment.

Connor knew that he surely had the upper hand in a fight against the detective, but nevertheless he felt a little nervous. He exhaled a deep breath, sharpening his senses to their maximum to act as soon as possible.

At that moment, Connor saw Gavin making an attempt to walk towards Markus and Simon, and he knew that it was the moment before Markus transmitted the order.

‘ _NOW!_ ’

But even if Connor listened to the order clearly…

…he didn’t move.

Or better said, he _couldn’t_ move.

Even if he hadn't activated it, Connor's vision automatically changed to scanning mode where a red, translucent wall had appeared in front of him, with the words ‘ _Never hurt humans_ ’ written in capital letters on it.

Connor tried to react, to fight the feeling that kept him paralyzed, but it was useless. He could just observe in slow motion through the wall that now covered his vision how Kara was already attacking the police officer, and how Markus and Simon had already managed to get free from their captors by shifting their bodies rapidly and using one of the defense movements that Connor taught them some days ago, causing one of the pistols to fall at Connor’s feet.

Once again, Connor’s attempt of moving was unsuccessful. Feeling more and more helpless, Connor observed how Gavin’s expression changed from confusion to anger, and how the man began to reach for the weapon that was carrying in his belt.

Connor didn’t need to use statistics. The hate on the detective’s eyes while looking at Markus, who was struggling to finally knock his opponent down, indicated Connor whom Gavin was going to shoot, and that realization finally made Connor react.

Connor perfectly knew that he was supposed to follow that order written in the wall. He mustn’t attack Gavin. He was human, and Connor had to always prioritize humans' safety over deviants. That was part of his mission, and he had to obey.

But he couldn’t let Markus die.

He _didn’t want_ Markus to die.

So, this time, he couldn’t obey that order.

He _didn’t want_ to obey it.

What happened next, Connor experienced as if he was seeing someone else from very far away. Connor observed that silhouette he knew it was him approach that digital wall, which already had some cracks on it.

Connor saw that person begin to push against it with force. At first the wall seemed immovable, and Connor thought for a moment that it was impossible to break through it, but that person didn’t give up. _He_ didn’t give up.

 

He kept pushing.

 

And pushing.

 

With all his might, until his arms hurt.

 

And then, _finally_ , the wall broke in a thousandth pieces, allowing him to move.

 

However, when the wall finally disappeared from his view, Connor saw that it was too late to jump over Gavin to stop him. The detective had already extracted his weapon and was pointing at Markus, who was with his back turned to the man. And after realizing that he couldn’t warn Markus in time either, Connor felt his body move on his own with a speed that he himself didn’t think possible.

Suddenly, a shot resounded in the room and panic spread through the disco.

The people began to run hysterically towards the door, but Connor remained still, staring at the weapon that somehow had appeared in his hands.

And it wasn’t until he noticed the figure that was now lying still on the floor that he realized what he had done.

He had shot Gavin.

He had killed Gavin.

He had killed a _human_.

And that meant that now, he…

“-nor! _Connor_!”

Connor noticed that Markus was grabbing his arms with force and was shaking him, in an attempt to make him react.

“Connor we have to get out of here. _Now_ ”

What happened next was extremely blurry in Connor’s mind. He was barely aware of Markus and Kara practically dragging him through the panicked crowd towards the door at the back of the room while Simon followed them, and the next thing he remembered was that he was already inside of the truck.

In the middle of the trip, Connor finally woke up from his trance. Markus was next to him, grabbing one of his arms as to make sure that Connor wasn’t going to collapse.

“Hey”, Markus said the moment Connor’s eyes gained focus again, “Connor, how are you?”

Connor tried to look at Markus, but when remembering what had happened he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“The detective…”, Connor began, “he…”

Markus gulped.

“I don’t know. We didn’t have time to check it”

Connor nodded and tried to move.

“Wait, maybe you shouldn’t-”

“I need to be alone”

Since Connor wasn’t looking at Markus he failed to see the pang of sadness that appeared on the deviant leader’s eyes when Connor separated from him to sit at the opposite side of the truck, with his legs crossed against his chest and his arms around them.

Connor remained in that position until the truck safely reached Jericho. When the back doors of the truck opened Connor immediately stepped outside, feeling the sudden necessity of disappearing when seeing so many people around.

Knowing that his corner would surely be occupied, Connor immediately searched for an alternative place to stay. As he had expected the training room was empty, so he entered and immediately leaned against one of the wall, sliding to the floor until being sitting with his legs crossed.

Just then Connor felt his system stop giving danger warnings of an immediate shut down because of extremely high stress.

Exhaling a trembling deep breath, Connor leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to uselessly ignore the thoughts that had been hammering in his head since he broke that wall.

He had killed Gavin.

He had killed a human.

He had disobeyed a direct order because he considered that Markus was most important than his mission.

And now he…

Before he could end those confusing thought, the door of the room opened, and for once Connor regretted to see the deviant leader standing there. He had removed his jacket so now the poor state in which his short-sleeve t-shirt had ended after the fight was more noticeable.

“Hey”

Connor gulped and immediately averted his gaze, looking at the ground in front of him.

“Hey”, he simply greeted back.

The silence that followed while Markus hesitantly stepped inside the room while closing the door behind him was, without any doubt, the heaviest and most overwhelming that Connor had ever felt.

“I thought you would like to know that the detective you shot is alive”

Connor’s eyes focused on Markus.

“Is he?”

Markus nodded.

“Yes, the news were emitting the incident at ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ and they had said that there hadn’t been any human casualties”

Connor gulped and nodded to himself, but even if he was glad to know that his actions hadn’t ended in a murder, that didn’t change the fact that now he…

“Alright, thanks for telling him”, Connor talked to prevent himself again from finishing that thought, but his voice sounded forced to his own ears, “maybe you should go to the infirmary so that they check those wounds”

Markus didn’t say anything for a moment, and didn’t move either.

“Don’t worry, I will. But not until you tell me what’s wrong with you”

Markus’ words made Connor look at the deviant leader briefly, and he gulped when seeing him with his naked arms crossed and with a stubborn look that indicated that he wasn’t going anywhere until Connor talked.

“There’s nothing wrong with me”, Connor lied, averting his eyes again while standing up, “I’m a little tired, but if I rest I’m sure that I’ll get better”

Connor was in part expecting when Markus stepped in front of him to stop his advances towards the door, doing the same Connor had done with him some hours ago.

“Connor, look at me, please”

Even if he wanted, Connor couldn’t ignore Markus’ petition after he asked that with such a caring tone. He forced himself to meet Markus’ gaze, and for the first time he felt a lump forming in his throat when seeing the way Markus was looking at him at that moment, with a mix of concern, tenderness and…something else that Connor didn’t dare to analyze but  that made his heart beat faster.

“What’s wrong?”, Markus repeated, “It’s because you shot that man?”

Connor gulped once again.

“Yes”, Connor began, but shook his head, “and no”

“Okay, then what is it?”, Markus asked as softly as before, “you can tell me anything. You helped me with my problems before, I can do the same for you”

Connor shook his head brusquely.

“No, you can’t”

Markus frowned.

“Why not?”

“Because _you_ are the problem”

Connor’s desperate words made Markus’ eyes snap open for a moment.

“What do you mean by that?”

Connor exhaled a frustrated laugh and separated a little from Markus, trying to put in order his thoughts without any success.

“I don’t even know. But being close to you is…”, Connor gulped, struggling to find the correct word while Markus’ eyes were fixed on him, expectantly, “…confusing. What I feel when I’m with you… I don’t understand it”

Slowly, Markus’ expression turned into one of understanding.

“Connor…”

Markus took a step towards Connor but this one didn’t even notice it. It was now Connor’s turn to let out all what he had kept inside since his mission at Jericho began.

“Before meeting you, I had never felt this way. I always used to think carefully about what the most correct thing to say was, or what the best way to act was, and I was always able to perfectly deduce what other people were thinking. But since I met you, I say things without thinking more often than not, I do things that I wouldn’t normally do, and you seem to read me better than I ever read anyone and even if that should scare me it doesn’t, although I know it should”

“Connor…”

Once again, Markus took another step forward, and once again, Connor simply continued talking. Now that he had begun, he couldn’t possibly stop.

“And tonight, when Gavin was about to shoot you, when I saw that maybe you were going to end dead…”

Connor opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, unable to spell a single sound for some seconds, and when he finally did, his voice was unexpectedly trembling.

“…for the first time, I experienced _fear_. When I thought about not seeing you again, or not talking to you again, or simply you not being alive anymore, I felt so terrified that I shot without even thinking _._ And the worst part is that even if I know it was wrong, deep inside I can’t regret it. I know I would do it again if it was necessary, that if you were in danger I would do _anything_ to stop it because somehow I can’t stand the thought of losing you and-”

Connor wasn’t aware of how close Markus was to him until the deviant leader held Connor’s face between his hands. The sudden warm contact made Connor hold his breath while finally meeting Markus’ bicolor eyes, and all what Connor planned to keep saying disappeared from his mind when detecting unequivocal want in Markus’ clear eyes.

“I warned you”

Connor didn’t have time to analyze the deviant leader’s words.

Because, at that moment, Markus’ lips met his.

And Connor could just focus on preventing his artificial heart from stopping when realizing that Markus was kissing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well, it happened :D  
>  Be ready for the next update because, as you can guess, angst is coming...


	10. The calm before the storm

During the first seconds, Connor didn’t react to what was happening.

He simply stood there, momentarily paralyzed and still assimilating that he was being kissed by no other than Markus, the one that Connor had been ordered to neutralize if he eventually couldn’t convince him to stop the revolution.

Connor knew that this wasn’t supposed to happen. As CyberLife’s most advanced prototype, he was the most efficient, competent model that had ever been created, with the only purpose of accomplishing all the orders given without fail.

However, now Connor knew that he had been mistaken all this time. Now he knew that, thanks to the people that had been with him all that time, he was more than just a RK800 android designed to follow humans’ orders.

Thanks to Hank, the first human who had treated Connor as an equal, the first one one who made him doubt about his identity with all those confusing questions that aimed to force Connor to think and choose for himself.

Thanks to Blue and Brona, whose unconditional love and determination to fight for it and protect it provoked the first stain on Connor’s record as the perfect machine he supposedly was.

Thanks to Chloe, whose initial blind obedience made Connor consider for the first time that androids shouldn’t accept to be sacrificed on a whim.

Thanks to Dana, whose bright smile and sincere affection allowed Connor to experience how it felt to have someone for which you cared deeply.

Thanks to Kara, Alice, Luther, Simon, Josh and North, whose familiar, friendly and sometimes not-as-friendly interactions and dynamics taught Connor that androids were different from humans in their physical composition, but were exactly the same when feelings were involved.

And finally, thanks to Markus: the one who captivated him since the moment Connor saw his transmission in the Stratford Building. The one who managed to turn Connor’s logical world upside down with every warm smile, with every teasing word, with every encouraging comment, with every serious or joking conversation, with every moment they had spent together. The one who had become so important to Connor that this one had been able to go against his initial programming, and finally acknowledge the truth he had long suspected but hadn’t dared to admit until that same moment, when Markus’ mouth had joined his.

That he, Connor, wasn’t a simple machine anymore.

That he was a _deviant_.

That he was alive, and had all the rights to choose and act on his own volition. He was free to choose to be more than a machine; free to keep acting on the deviants’ behalf; free to feel what he was feeling for Markus right then, and to also accept Markus’ feelings, that he had been noticing for a while now even if he had decided to ignore them.

For the first time since his current mission began, Connor wasn’t afraid of accepting that reality.  He was prepared to stop making up excuses to justify what he felt, what he wanted. And at that moment, what Connor wanted wasn’t anything more than keep feeling Markus’ lips moving so perfectly against his own.

For that reason, when Markus tried to put an end to that gentle kiss, probably afraid to have done something that Connor didn’t want since he wasn’t reacting as expected, Connor didn’t hesitate in grasping the front of the leader’s t-shirt and dive forward to meet Markus’ mouth again.

Even if Connor didn’t do much more than pressing his lips against Markus’ ones in what it could be objectively considered a rather poor kiss, the reaction on the deviant leader was immediate: Markus’ body relaxed while exhaling a relieved sigh, and Connor was happy to know that his heart wasn’t the only one in beating at a frenetic rhythm at that moment.

Without stopping the still innocent kiss Markus’ hands travelled down, leaving Connor’s cheeks to pass by his arms until finally settling on Connor’s slender hips. Connor’s hands followed the opposite direction, roaming briefly over Markus’ chest to stop on his arms, because suddenly he felt the need of feeling Markus’ bare skin under his fingers.  

The unconscious lingering movement made Markus exhale a soft groan, and Connor’s heart skipped a beat when Markus’ tongue languidly slid along his lower lip. However, this time he didn’t have to check in his database to know what he had to do.

Hesitantly, Connor slowly parted his lips a little. He thought he was prepared to what it was about to come, but still he couldn’t prevent the electrical shiver that ran down his spine when Markus’ tongue slipped inside and joined his, because the added capacity of Connor’s tongue of tasting all the existing materials in the world had made it considerably more sensitive than usual.

The unhurried dance that was taking place inside their mouths caused Connor to feel weak in the knees, but that wasn’t the only effect that the now less-innocent kiss provoked on Connor. The intense experiences of the night together with his recently discovered deviancy and feelings had also affected Connor’s usual self-control, that decided to snap at that moment and caused him to grip Markus’ arms with more force to turn their positions so that Markus’ back was against the wall next to the door.

The sudden change of pace caused Markus’ eyes to open slightly in surprise, but when Connor verified that the leader’s eyes kept showing the same want, if not more, than before, he simply dive forward once again to re-capture Markus’ lips. It was Connor’s turn to invade Markus’ mouth, tilting his head to the side to have a better angle to kiss him. The sensitive sensors of Connor’s tongue proved to be unexpectedly handy because he could find the areas of Markus’ mouth that were the most sensitive, and that caused the leader to groan before fully enclosing his hands firmly around Connor’s waist to press their bodies even closer.

Connor suddenly broke the kiss. Markus’ last action had caused their stomachs and lower halves to be flushed together, and the sudden contact  had made Connor feel certain element in his lower anatomy, that he had totally ignored until then because it didn’t fulfill any useful purpose, react for the first time against the tight jeans he was still wearing.

Making the most of Connor’s hesitation, Markus diverted his mouth to Connor’s earlobe to nip at it between his teeth before licking it teasingly slow. Connor’s fingers dug on Markus’ arms while his mouth opened in a soundless gasp. He didn’t know why exactly his ears had been made sensitive but Connor internally thanked CyberLife for having implemented them that way.

When the next feathery tug of Markus’ teeth provoked a new breathy gasp out of him, Connor grabbed Markus’ shoulders and pushed him against the wall to be face to face again. Markus’ purposely smug smile made Connor blush slightly and with renewed determination he kissed Markus again fiercely, obtaining a new surprised but aroused groan as a result that filled Connor with satisfaction. He definitely was going to make the usually impassible leader let out more of those sounds.

“And are you sure you forgot it here?”

“I don’t know, but it’s the last place I visited before going out and-”

Even if Connor heard the voices that came up outside the door, neither him nor Markus could process them in time, so when Simon and Josh distractedly entered the room Connor and Markus' mouths were still locked in a passionate kiss that they immediately broke when hearing the other deviants’ stunned gasps.

“Oh, _shit_ ”, Josh snapped, his eyes opening wide while Simon didn’t bother to hide a wide smile.

“Weeell, Josh, I think it’s better if we search your scarf in another moment”

While Simon’s teasing tone made Markus blush lightly, Connor wondered if it was better to separate completely from the leader now that they had company, but before he could do anything another voice, a feminine one this time, sounded.

“Hey, Josh, I think I found it: it was in the next cabin with other clothes”

At that moment North stepped inside the room too. She was dressing a new set of clothes, had combed his long hair on a side braid again and was carrying in her hands what Connor deduced it was Josh’s scarf.

The female deviant’s presence caused Simon and Josh to hold their breaths, but North didn’t notice her companions because her eyes automatically focused on Connor and Markus. Considering the tension that fell in the room it was evident that everyone was expecting her to get angry, but she simply snorted without changing her expression at all.

“Tsk, it was time already. You couldn’t be more damn obvious”

The reaction of all the male deviants was the same: to open wide their eyes and mouths while North handled the piece of clothing to Josh before beginning to talk to Markus, as if it was perfectly normal that Connor had the deviant leader pressed against the wall.

“Lucy has asked for you. She wanted to discuss something about the new members so you should go soon, and it wouldn’t be bad that you and Simon had those wounds checked”

Markus finally recovered from his initial astonishment and cleared his throat before nodding.

“Alright. I’ll go in moment”

“Roger, ma’am”

North rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile when hearing Simon’s diligent answer and after dedicating a last look at Connor and Markus she abandoned the room, followed by Josh who awkwardly waved his hand goodbye towards the pair while Simon winked at them playfully.

When the door closed behind the deviants, Connor immediately looked at Markus with a confused frown.

“They didn’t look very surprised”

Markus exhaled an embarrassed laugh, still keeping his hands on Connor’s hips.

“Well, I guess I haven’t been as subtle as I thought”, Connor’s frown increased, causing Markus to look at him with amusement, “and now is when you tell me that you hadn’t the least idea that I liked you, right?”

Connor blushed, because one thing was to be aware of Markus’ feelings and another to hear him express them aloud.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I had realized it”

Markus raised an eyebrow in skepticism when hearing Connor’s confident tone.

“Okay, former Android Detective: later I will check if your deduction skills are as good as you say”, Markus’ mocking tone turned slightly disappointed, “but now I should go to talk to Lucy as North has said. Probably the new deviants are a little confused right now and we need to talk to them”

When hearing the word ‘deviant’, Connor felt his LED blink in yellow, because even if he had already acknowledged that he had become one, it had just sank into him that being a deviant also meant that he didn’t need to follow Amanda’s orders anymore, and that he could try to put an end to the conflict between humans and deviants in any way he wanted. The possibilities were so immense now that he suddenly felt overwhelmed.

“Hey”, Connor was about to jump when Markus suddenly settled a hand on his cheek, “are you okay? Your LED is going crazy right now”

Suppressing a gulp Connor nodded, meeting Markus’ eyes that now were showing a little of concern. Among all the things Connor could now do, he knew that one of them was to tell Markus the truth. He couldn’t hide forever what his initial mission had been.  Besides, considering the last evolution of their relationship, they would probably share memories again, and Connor preferred to tell Markus everything before he could accidentally discover it.

However, he had to think thoroughly about what the best way to act was. Obviously, Amanda couldn’t discover that he was a deviant because in that case she would surely send another model to replace him, or maybe she considered that she had wasted enough of time because of Connor and she decided to adopt a less peaceful approach to solve the conflict. So, the first thing he had to do was to send the report to Amanda as if nothing had changed, and once he was sure that she was convinced, he would talk to the others to think about what to do next.

“Connor, you’re scaring me”

“S-Sorry, I’m fine”, Connor reassured Markus with a smile, “too many emotions in too little time”

Markus returned the smile, relieved.

“Then you better rest a little. I’ll pass by your spot when I finish talking to Lucy”

Markus surprised Connor by depositing a soft kiss on his forehead before finally separating from him. The intimate gesture caused Connor to feel unexpectedly warm, and suddenly made him realize how badly he wanted to protect what Markus and him had come to have.

“Okay, see you later”, Connor managed to say after finding his voice again.

The tender smile Markus dedicated him as a goodbye made Connor’s heart accelerate once again, so Connor decided to remain in the training room until it normalized, and because if he came out now he would probably attract all the looks with the idiotic smile that was adorning his face.

Before abandoning the training room, Connor also checked the status of his system. He hadn’t lied when saying that the emotions of the day had affected him because he was at a 67% of energy, so after sending the report to Amanda it was mandatory that he entered dormant mode for the rest of the night.

Since it was already late, Connor thought that there would be few deviants around Jericho, but the fact that the incident at ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ was being retransmitted in television had caused that all the screens were on, with group of deviants surrounding them not to lose any detail about it.

When reaching the second floor Connor briefly stopped in the walkway and watched the news for a couple minutes. The anchor commented that a police raid had been carried out in a bar that acted as a cover to sell drugs and weapons, but the traffic of sexual deviants or the fact that two owners of the bar were deviants weren’t mentioned. Also, as Markus had already told him, the news said that a police officer had been hurt in the operation, but that he had been transferred to the hospital and that his life wasn’t at risk.

Connor exhaled a relieved sigh. It hadn’t crossed his mind that Markus could have lied to him, but still Connor felt better to have listened about Gavin’s sure recovery the news for himself, because the fact that he didn’t like Gavin didn’t mean that he wanted him dead.

That thought made Connor remember Hank. He wondered what the lieutenant would say in case of knowing that Connor had shot the detective, and also if he discovered that Connor was now a deviant. However, he immediately discarded the second thought: he trusted Hank completely, and a part of him really wanted to tell Hank, but Connor didn’t want to force Hank to keep a secret that could compromise his career, so he better tell the lieutenant everything when he was sure about what to do.

When the news began to give details about the weapons that had been found, Connor left the projection screen behind and finally went to the first floor. While climbing down the stairs, he passed by Chloe, who was having a heatedly discussion with Blue and Brona.

“So you all went to rescue North and you didn’t say us anything?!”, Blue was exclaiming with her arms crossed.

“Look, I understand that you are upset”, Chloe said, raising her hands in front of her as a rather useless defense, “but-”

“But what?”, Brona interrupted her, “you thought that we couldn’t help?”

“No, it’s not that!”, Chloe said immediately, but it was evident that she was struggling to find the correct words so automatically Connor intervened.

“We all decided not to involve you in this”, the three female deviants looked at Connor with surprise, not expecting him to join the conversation, “and not because you couldn’t have helped us, because you’d surely have, but we didn’t want you to go through an experience that involved sex androids ever again”

The former Tracis exhaled respective gulps before looking at Chloe, who looked at them with a sad smile.

“It’s as Connor says. He, Kara and I had to pretend to be sex androids, and it was hard enough for us so…”, Chloe grabbed Blue and Brona’s hands, “…we didn’t want you to recall unpleasant memories. And I understand that you are angry, but as your friend, I don’t regret not having told you”

Blue and Brona interchanged a look and after exhaling a soft sigh they both hugged Chloe at the same time. Connor understood that it was time to leave the three friends alone so he silently stepped away.

‘ _Thank you_ ’

Connor turned around and saw Chloe smile softly at him while still hugging Blue and Brona, so he answered with another smile before finally going towards his spot.

He had barely pinpointed his corner when he noticed Dana already running towards him, and when the girl was about to hug him Connor raised her in the air, this time without feeling any awkwardness.

The action caused Dana to smile at Connor even more brightly than before enclosing her arms and legs around his neck and waist respectively.

“I told you I would come back”, Connor said with a smile, making the girl giggle happily against his shoulder.

Connor carried Dana to their spot and found Kara, Luther and Alice there. Kara was dressing her usual clothes again and was sitting on the box next to Luther, observing some of Alice and Dana’s picture while Luther had an almost completely asleep Alice in his arms.

“Hey”, Kara’s tone was low not to bother Alice, “how are you feeling?”

Connor realized then that the last time Kara had seen him was when he had shot Gavin and was unable to react.

“I’m okay now”, Connor placed Dana in the floor before continuing with a more apologetic tone, “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused”

Kara shook her head negatively with a reassuring smile.

“You don’t need to apologize. Everyone would have been in shock in case of doing what you did, and everything turned out well at the end”, Kara looked at Connor inquisitively, “have you talked to Markus since we came back? Because we was really worried about you and I think he would be happy to know that you are okay”, Kara looked at Luther with her eyes half-closed when the big man exhaled a patient sigh, “what? Can’t I even ask?”

“Oh, yes, he has talked to him: they were making out like a pair of horny teenagers when we visited the training room”

Connor experienced first-hand the expression ‘blush to the toes of his shoes’ when hearing North behind him. He turned around rapidly and saw the female deviant standing there, with her arms crossed but not looking as menacing as always. North’s comment had also caused Kara to let out a stunned gasp that made Alice jump completely awake in Luther’s arms.

“O-Oh, I’m sorry, Alice”, Kara said hurriedly, kissing the forehead of the confused girl as an apology before looking at Connor with her eyes opened impossibly wide, “then you…and Markus…”

Connor managed to blush even more, which seemed to be enough answer for Kara because the woman smiled at him while placing one of her hands against her own chest, looking honestly happy for him.

“Congratulations”, Luther said simply in such a formal voice that Connor’s blush just got worse. It seemed that being a deviant had certain disadvantages because he didn’t recall to blush so easily before.

At that moment, North cleared her throat.

“So…”, Connor looked at North, surprised to see the woman looking nervous for the first time, “…can we talk for a moment? In private”

Connor didn’t know why North would want to talk to him but since her stance looked relaxed he concluded that she didn’t plan to attack him any time soon.

“Alright”, he said, waving his hand goodbye towards Kara, Luther and the girls before accompanying North a little far away.

Connor followed the female deviant in silence until she stopped next to a solitary bonfire, situated some meters away from his spot.

After some seconds North exhaled a long breath, and while looking at the fire she began to talk, almost to herself.

“During the time I was at the Eden Club, all the humans I met were worthless. It didn’t matter if they were young or old, rich or poor, if they had an appealing appearance or a messy one: they _all_ used me to fulfill the horrible fantasies they held back in front of others not to be seen as the monsters they really were. They _all_ took advantage of the fact that I wasn’t more than a sexual toy exclusively designed for their pleasure”

Connor stared at North in silence. He never thought that the female deviant would ever share such painful details of her past with him, but she had just started.

“Living like that for three whole years made me unable to trust humans, and when I came to Jericho and I saw that most part of the people here had also suffered because of them, my hate for humanity grew even more. For that reason…”, North’s sharp eyes fixed on Connor, “…I hated you, because for me all the humans with whom you had collaborated weren’t better than the ones who turned my life into hell”, North gulped, her harsh tone softening a little, “But I was wrong. What happened in the club tonight made me realize that deviants can be as evil as humans, and that the fact that I’ve been unlucky and I have never met a good human doesn’t mean that they don’t actually exist. And also…”

Connor’s eyes snapped open when North’s eyes turned brighter, and when her voice sounded more trembling when continuing talking.

“… I realized that, all this time, I have been an asshole with you, because it didn’t matter that you helped liberate androids, or to go to scavenge, or to train our people so that they could be safer, or to make Markus happier than I’ve ever seen him be: for me you kept being the Deviant Hunter that couldn’t be trusted, the machine that had helped the evil humans. But tonight, after seeing how you risked your life for rescuing me and the rest, I know I’ve never been more wrong. And I know that it’s probably too late now but…”, North extended a hand towards Connor, “…can you forgive me?”

During the first seconds Connor didn’t do anything.  He simply stared at North, still not believing what he had just listened, before deciding to ignore the hand North was offering him to hug the female deviant instead, causing her to let out an uncharacteristic high-pitched squeak.

Connor couldn’t explain why he had decided to ignore a handshake and go for a hug when the probabilities of North punching him for doing that were pretty high, but he was still getting used to the whole feelings thing and somehow he had felt the necessity to do it.

After a couple of seconds Connor was about to separate from North rapidly, a little afraid of receiving the expected punch, when the female deviant returned the hug with unusual shyness, which completely convinced Connor that he had been overestimating the statistics during all that time.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe my eyes: North is hugging her mortal enemy while crying?!”

Connor was surprised when hearing Simon, but his reaction was nothing compared to the way North squeaked again and rudely pushed Connor away while blushing madly.

“I’m NOT crying, you jerk!”, North  snapped furiously, recovering her usual harsh tone while Simon looked at her about to burst out laughing at any second, “and why the hell are you here?! Shouldn’t you be at the infirmary?!”

“I have just come from there”

“ _Oh_ , have you? And then why do you still have _that_ scar under your eye?”

“Because I told Lucy to let it that way, since I look manlier”

“…”

“What? Don’t you think that I look more attractive?”

“You are more than attractive already, you idiot, so stop lying and go have your wounds treated before I drag you there myself by your fucking ear! See you, Connor”

North took her leave while rubbing her eyes brusquely with the back of her hand, leaving Connor and Simon behind with their eyes open wide.

“She has called me Connor”, Connor said.

“She has said that I’m _more_ than attractive”, Simon added absentmindedly, a grin slowly forming on his face, “I have to tell Josh about this”

Connor chuckled, causing Simon to stop daydreaming.

“So, did you want something or you have just approached to tease North as always?”, Connor inquired, making Simon laugh.

“Both, but I’ve actually come to talk to you”, the smile that Simon offered to Connor was full of gratitude, “if it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know what would have happened in the club, but it’s really probably that some of us wouldn’t be here right now. So thank you, Connor”, Simon’s smile became teasing in the blink of an eye, “and I’m sorry for interrupting your private moment with our beloved leader, but if you want an advice, the next time you need some intimacy remember to place a shock over the doorknob”

By when Connor searched in his database what it meant what Simon had said, the male deviant had already gone towards the infirmary, so the only thing Connor could do was to blush once again. Definitely, considering the personalities of the deviants around him, he had to improve his response to teasing.

After Connor felt his cheek recover his usual pale color, he decided to remain next to the bonfire to finally send the promised report to Amanda, since he would surely be distracted by Dana again if he came back to his corner.

Connor spent some moments reviewing what he was going to say to Amanda. After analyzing all the possible outcomes, Connor decided to tell Amanda that Markus and the rest had decided to go to check if there were weapons in the club, and that he had joined them to make sure that they didn’t obtain them. Since the news hadn’t commented anything about the club trafficking with sexual androids, Connor decided that it wasn’t necessary to mention that the actual purpose was to rescue North, and obviously, he was going to omit too what had happened with Gavin.

A couple minutes were enough for Connor to elaborate an acceptable report. He took a deep breath and after reviewing it one more time he sent it.

Connor got mentally prepared because he was pretty sure that Amanda was going to summon him for a meeting in the Zen Garden, probably to demand him some explanations about his previous insubordination when he had cut the communication with her in the club.

When five minutes passed and Connor hadn’t received any answer, he frowned. That was weird. Normally it took Amanda some seconds to confirm the reception of the report. Could it be that the transmission had failed? But in that case he would have obtained a warning, so maybe Amanda simply was even busier than usual, so Connor waited for another five minutes.

However, when another five minutes passed without receiving any news, Connor began to worry for real. It hadn’t crossed his mind until that moment, but what if after becoming a deviant Amanda was unable to communicate with him anymore? What if the she couldn’t summon him ever again?

And if that was the case, what if Amanda already knew…

…that he as a deviant?

With his LED blinking in bright yellow, Connor began to walk rapidly towards the infirmary. He would have liked to have more time to think about how to bring the news, but he had to tell Markus everything. They had to get prepared in case Amanda decided to attack and-

_“Connor? Shit, fucking mobiles with their fucking coverage. Connor, can you hear me?”_

Connor stopped in his tracks when suddenly hearing that familiar, gruffly voice in his head.

“Hank?”

When Connor answered aloud some deviants next to him looked at him with curiosity, but Connor didn’t notice it. His attention was exclusively focused on Hank.

“ _Oh, for fuck sake,_ finally”, Hank exclaimed with relieve at the other side of the line, “ _listen well, kid, you and the rest have to get out of there”_

Connor gulped when hearing the apprehension on Hank’s voice. Considering the sounds in the background, it seemed that the lieutenant was talking while driving his car at a rather fast speed.

“I don’t understand, Hank. Get out of where?”

“ _You are in danger, Connor_ ”, Connor’s LED blinked in yellow because it was the first time he heard Hank sound that scared, “ _Perkins and his men are going to Jericho as we speak”_

Connor froze, his LED turning red in a blink.

“What?”, Connor whispered, feeling his stress level raise from 0 to the maximum in an instant, “why?”

_“I don’t know, kid. I don’t know what’s happening, they didn’t want to give me any fucking details, but I know they are armed and they are going there ,so you must leave NOW and- oh, SHIT!”_

Connor’s LED blinked twice in red when he heard skidding noise and suddenly the connection was lost.

“Hank?”, he didn’t obtain an answer, “Hank?”

Connor gulped, feeling his chest tighten. Considering the bad weather, that noise, the lose of communication, and that Hank had been driving while talking to him, it was really probably that the lieutenant-

Connor shook his head, pushing away the fear that threatened to paralyze him. At that moment, he couldn’t do anything for Hank event if he wanted. Connor didn’t even know where the lieutenant was, so he could just hope that Hank was okay and talk to Markus before the police arrived there.

In a few seconds Connor reached the infirmary, who was completely full because of the new deviants that had joined them. Trying to keep calm, Connor scanned the infirmary until he finally pinpointed Markus at the back of it, talking to Lucy.

“Markus!”

When hearing Connor’s call, Markus immediately turned towards him with a smile that immediately disappeared from his face when seeing Connor’s strained expression.

“Hey, what’s-?”

“We have to leave. Now”

Connor couldn’t blame Markus when this one frowned without understanding him because his sentence couldn’t be more inaccurate, but right now he couldn’t think clearly, and the next words that escaped his mouth proved that fact.

“The FBI is going to attack Jericho”

Connor realized too late that he had probably talked too loud when the murmurs came to a stop in the infirmary and everyone focused their attention in him and Markus, who was also having to difficulties in assimilating the unexpected news.

“What?”, Markus’ clear eyes were showing more confusion than ever, “Connor, what are you-? How do you-”

Connor grabbed Markus’ arms with force, causing the leader to focus once again.

“I know it’s much to process right now”, Connor said, trying to prevent his voice from trembling from nervousness, “I’ll explain everything to you later but we don’t have much time: soon we’ll be under attack and we have to leave befo-”

Connor couldn’t finish that sentence.

Because just at that moment a deafening explosion shook the entire first floor, causing Connor to fall into the floor together with Markus and the rest of the deviants of the infirmary.

And when shots and panicked shouts and cries began to fill the place, Connor realized that it was too late to stop what was about to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Did I ever say that I love the cliffhangers? ^^U  
>  I hope you have enjoyed this calm and fluffy chapter, because the next one is probably going to hurt :')


	11. All falls down

One of the main characteristics of the RK800 model was its capacity to face any kind of incidents and always come up with the best solution to solve them, no matter how extreme, dangerous or desperate the situation in which it was involved was.

Connor had experienced that kind of situations first hand, such as that time in the roof when he had to convince that android that his demands were going to be listened to save that girl, or when he had to run after Rupert and he put his life at risk with every jump he performed, or in the Stratford Building when he had to act against the clock to avoid dying after that android attacked him in the kitchen.

The FBI attacking Jericho at that moment clearly entered in the category of incident that Connor was programmed to deal with, so the moment he managed to step out of the infirmary together with Markus, he should have been able to analyze the situation with cold blood and think off a dozen of different alternatives about the best way to act.

However, when Connor witnessed the scene that was taking place in the common area, he was unable to move.

The explosion that had just sounded had come from the hidden entrance whose location, theoretically, just the androids should know about. A gap had been opened on the floor and several SWAT officers were coming from it, carrying weapons that used to point at the nearby deviants, and although they didn’t shoot immediately they didn’t hesitate to do it if the last ones tried to run in a panic.

Connor felt his LED blink hysterically in red while staring from afar the motionless deviants’ bodies that were spread around the hidden entrance, because he knew that what was happening was his fault. Connor didn’t know how or why it had happened when things were going so well, but he knew that this attack wouldn’t have been possible without him, and that horrible realization paralyzed him the same way it happened before at the club when trying to attack Gavin.

“Connor!”, Markus’ desperate voice made Connor’s brown eyes gain some focus again, “Connor, we have to attack now. We outnumber the police for now but I’m sure that it’s a matter of time that-”

While Markus talked, the SWAT began to shoot towards their direction, causing Connor to finally react and immediately grab Markus to drag him behind one of the nearest boxes, just when several bullets impacted in the place they had been a mere second ago.

Connor and Markus had barely leaned their backs against the box when a second explosion, bigger than the previous one, sent the front door of Jericho flying, just when a new sound coming from above the ceiling joined the panicked shouts that were already filling the room.

“What is that noise?”

It took Connor just a moment to identify it.

“I think it’s a helicopter”

“Damn it, we are surrounded then”, Markus cursed while Connor forced himself to push away the previous guilt that had assaulted him. He would have time to take the blame later, but right then the priority was to survive the attack.

“Is there any place where people can hide and be safe?”

“The safest place would be the hold, but the police are coming from there so it’s not an option. And they’re coming from the upper deck now, so we can’t hide there either”

“Then what options do we have?”

Markus exhaled a sigh before talking.

“Just one. We have to blow up Jericho”, Connor’s eyes opened wide when hearing the suggestion, “if the ship goes down they’ll evacuate and our people can escape”

“But we are too many: how can we warn them in time?”

“I can connect with the deviants I have helped to wake up no matter how far away they are. I’ll tell them to abandon the ship and to transmit this to everyone they come across”

Markus and Connor were forced to hide more behind the box when a rain of bullet passed over their heads.

“And how are you planning to blow up Jericho?”, Connor asked louder to be heard over the bullets’ sound.

“There are explosives in the hold. I’ll activate them to sink the ship”

The box where Connor and Markus were hiding began to break so they crawled behind another one.

“Okay, I’ll go with you”

Connor frowned when Markus shook his head.

“No, you have to stay here. You can fight better than anyone else and most part of our people is here, so you have to help as many as you can”

Connor suddenly received the location of what it seemed to be a church that had been abandoned for several years.

 “We’ll all meet here”, Markus grabbed Connor by the back of his neck, “and make sure to leave Jericho in time”

Connor was about to protest again, but he realized that his feelings for Markus were affecting his objectivity. What Markus had proposed was the best solution, because no matter how worried Connor was for Markus this one was perfectly able to take care of himself, but it couldn’t be said the same about the harmed deviants that were right now barely holding on inside the infirmary. And also, even if Connor knew that Dana was surely in good hands with Kara and Luther, he needed to know that she was fine.

“Alright. Leave it to me”

When Markus leaned forward to kiss him, Connor closed his eyes making sure to treasure the moment. He planned to survive but he wanted to make sure that this kiss was burnt in his memory, because Connor had the unpleasant feeling that if they eventually managed to meet in that church, there was a high probability that their relationship wouldn’t ever be the same.

“Be careful”, Connor said while Markus got ready to leave the provisional safety that the box offered them.

Markus turned his head a last time to look at Connor with a smile that tried to be reassuring, but that lost part of his effect for the evident worry in his eyes.

“You too”

Connor waited behind the box, observing Markus wait for a suitable opening before beginning to run at his top speed to the other side of the room, where the door leading to the hold was.

‘ _There are exits on the second and third floor. Find them and jump in the river!_ ’

Connor received Markus’ transmission too because of the proximity, and when the door closed behind the leader’s back Connor forced himself to stop worrying about him to focus on his current mission: to protect the people of Jericho.

Because of the recent transmission, the deviants that had been running trying to avoid the SWAT began to do it towards the second floor, which caused that the officers’ attention focused on the only spot with deviants that remained in the first floor: the infirmary.

From where he was hiding, Connor quickly scanned the surroundings of the ten. There were a total of four SWAT officers walking slowly towards it, shouting orders to the deviants inside.

“If you stay still and collaborate no one will be hurt, but if you attack we’ll shoot”, one of the SWAT was saying when Connor began to approach the infirmary from behind, crouching while walking not be seen.

“Liars”, Lucy was saying from the entrance of the tent in an accusing tone, “I saw you shot at my people when they were just running away”

“They disobeyed our orders”

“They were _scared_!”, Lucy snapped, her usual soothing tone full of despair, “they just wanted to live and you _killed_ them”

“We don’t have time to waste”, another SWAT commented while Connor positioned himself on the tent’s side, where he had full vision of the four officers, “we still have more than 70 models to collect”

“But she is a weird model. We need her operational”, a female SWAT added.

“These things are tough”, the first SWAT said, reloading his weapon, “I’m sure a couple of shots won’t be enough to destroy her”

Before the SWAT completed the action of fully pointing at Lucy with his gun Connor rapidly approached him and stole the weapon from him with a fluent movement before kicking the man to make him fall backwards. The sudden intervention caught the SWATs off of guard, which allowed Connor to open fire against the group until the charger was empty. The vests they were wearing would prevent them from dying from that attack, but it would be enough to stop them from standing up any time soon.

“Are you okay?”

Connor approached Lucy, who nodded with a grateful smile before entering the tent again, where all the deviants that could move with more or less difficulty were helping the ones who were lying in the stretchers, helping them to incorporate and abandon the beds to go towards the exits.  

“We’ve received Markus’ message.  Thanks to the last scavenge most part of the deviants here can move with a little of help. But…”, Lucy lowered her tone so that just Connor heard her, her voice saddening, “…there are 7 that are in too critical condition”

Lucy signaled with her eyes the corner of the tent where some other deviant were lying, completely immobile. Connor gulped. A quick scan was enough for him to conclude that the life of those deviants hung by a thread and that a simple brusque movement could cause them to disconnect forever.

“Is there nothing we can do?”, Connor asked with frustration, ignoring his own conclusive results, “what if we move them very carefully? I’m programmed to perform really delicate tasks, maybe I can-”

Lucy took Connor’s face between her hands with delicacy and shook her head.

“You have done everything you could to help us. We do not have much time until the SWAT come here again, so make sure that the rest can escape. Everyone has a duty to fulfill at any moment of their life. Yours right now is to help the people that can still survive. Mine is to remain beside the ones who cannot”

Connor understood what the word ‘heartbreaking’ meant when seeing the resigned but peaceful smile Lucy was offering him. A smile that was loudly telling the world that she had just accepted her fate and that she was in peace with that choice.

As to confirm Lucy’s premonition, at that same moment more SWAT began to enter by the broken front door to directly approach the infirmary with their weapons prepared.

“Go, Connor”, Lucy encouraged him, pressing softly his cheeks before releasing him, “and survive to help Markus save our people”

Connor observed Lucy go to the stretchers where the agonizing androids were to stand next to them, with a proud, straightened stance that made Connor gulp. A part of him, his irrational one, was telling him that he couldn’t abandon her and those people. That it was unfair that they had to be left behind simply because their possibilities or survival were inferior to the rest. Because they all deserved to live, or at least to have the opportunity to do it, no matter how thin their chances of survival were.

This time though, Connor knew that he couldn’t let his deviant part win his current inner battle. There were people in the infirmary that still needed help to reach the second and third floor, people whose survival he could assure, so he couldn’t risk that those people died for not being able to accept an irremediable truth: that, at that point, the option of saving everyone didn’t exist anymore.

Feeling his chest tighter than ever, Connor helped the deviants inside the tent so that they could leave it for the back. One of them, a male AP700 deviant, was missing a leg so Connor carried directly in his arms despite the android’s initial protests.

Before abandoning the tent Connor dedicated a last glance to Lucy, and when the KL900 android nodded softly towards him, Connor answered the same way before following the rest of the deviants towards the stairs, determined not to look back.

However, Connor couldn’t help to hear the warnings of the police when they reached the infirmary. And Lucy’s fearless voice saying that she wasn’t going anywhere. And the shots that sounded after the female deviant’s negative, and that made Connor be about to turn around until deciding that the only thing he would obtain after doing so would be pain, when knowing that he hadn’t done anything to prevent it.

Connor rapidly ran along the walkway of the second floor, that was unexpectedly empty of police because probably the SWAT had already deduced that the deviants were going towards the exists and were trying to go there faster.

“Connor!”

Still carrying the half-unconscious android, Connor turned around towards the voice that had called his name, and felt a sense of relief when seeing Simon and North there.

“Glad you’re fine”, Simon exhaled, looking relieved as well.

“Same here”, Connor noticed the superficial wounds that adorned Simon and North’s upper half, “have you fought them?”

“We went to take some weapons but it was too late”, North said with frustration, “those jerks were lucky as hell and that was the first cabin they checked. They were already there by when we arrived”

Connor froze.

There was an only explanation for which the SWAT had found the weapons so fast in such a little amount of time.

 Amanda had surely provided them with that information.

And she had been able to do that because he…

“Have you seen Josh or Markus?”

Simon’s worried question made Connor focus on the present again and ignore, once again, the guilt that threatened to invade him once again.

“I don’t know where Josh is”, Connor said, causing North and Simon to look even more worried, “Markus has gone to the hold. He is going to make the ship explode”

“WHAT?!”, North exclaimed, “and he has gone _alone_?!”

“Among all the times to play the hero…”, Simon said with resignation while North continued cursing, “we have heard his message but we didn’t know what he planned to do”

“Shit, and surely he has gone there unarmed”, North turned towards Simon, “we have to help him”

“At this point probably we’ll just hinder him, and I’m sure Markus would want us to help others to leave Jericho”

North cursed again, knowing what Simon was right.

“What about Kara, Luther and the girls?”, Connor asked then, “have you seen them?”

At that moment the SWAT that had attacked the infirmary began to go towards the stairs so Connor and the rest immediately abandoned the walkway through one of the doors.

 “I think I saw Luther running towards the third floor before”, North said after taking coverage inside one of the cabins, “he was carrying the skinless little android that was with Kara and Alice when I went to talk to you”

Connor exhaled a relieved sigh, taking a decision he knew it was impulsive at that moment.

“Can you do me a favor?”, Connor looked at North and Simon alternatively, “please, carry him to the exit. I want to check that Dana and the rest are okay”

“But maybe they have jumped already”, North protested while Connor placed the already unconscious android on Simon’s arms, “and even if they are here how are you going to find them?”

“I’m a former detective. I will manage”

Connor ignored Simon and North’s attempts to convince him and abandoned the cabin in a run. He managed to reach the access to the third floor without bumping into any officers, hiding behind the corners and into the opened cabins to avoid them. However, when Connor was about to climb the stairs he heard pleas coming from one of the rooms that made him go there.

Inside the room there were two SWAT officers pointing their guns at two kneeled androids. One of them was crying and begging for his life, but the second one was looking at the police with a defiant look, and Connor realized that he was Rupert.

“Which model are they?”, one of the SWAT asked.

“KR200 and WB200”, his companion said, “we have the first one already so he is useless, but we’ll keep the second”

Connor and Rupert acted at the same time: while the first one entered the room to neutralize the officer that was going to shoot at the KR200 android, Rupert lunged against the one who had been pointing at him to make him fall into the floor, being Connor the one who left him finally unconscious with a well delivered kick.

“Thank you”, the KR200 androids mumbled to Connor before beginning to run.

“They planned to take me with them”, Rupert said, taking the weapons of the fallen officers, “why?”

Connor didn’t answer, lost in his thoughts. It was the second time that a SWAT commented that they needed to ‘collect’ or ‘take’ androids. One of them even suggested that Lucy was valuable because she was ‘a weird model’. Did that mean that the goal of the whole attack was to take some of the deviants back? But for what purpose?

“We should go to the exit, are you coming?”

Rupert asked after Connor didn’t answer the first question.

“No, I still have to check something in the third floor”

“Okay”, Rupert handled one of the guns to Connor, “good luck”

Connor followed Rupert out of the room before finally climbing the stairs towards the third floor. Once he was there, Connor re-configured his system to devote all his processing capacity to his scanning module. Since RK800 models had more functionalities that the rest of the androids, their programming allowed them to prioritize their use according to the task that needed to be performed. That meant that, if for example, at some point Connor needed to focus exclusively on combat, he could be even more lethal than he already was by ‘turning off’ the other functionalities to give priority to his fighting capacity.

Until then, Connor hadn’t needed to use it, but considering the wide area of the third floor and that he was running out of time he couldn’t waste time scanning in a traditional way. The only disadvantage was that his fighting skills were considerably reduced while performing the scan, so he had to be even more careful not to find SWAT in his way. Connor also estimated that he could use the improved scanning module for a minute at most because it consumed a considerable amount of energy, and considering that his battery was at 58% he couldn’t allow himself to lower that number much more.

After crouching behind some fallen rubbles, Connor activated his scanning module. Automatically, he could see the whole area inside his head, together with an overwhelming number of information that made his LED blink in dangerous red for some seconds before he managed to calm down and focus.

Taking a deep breath, Connor made an effort to ignore all the unnecessary information and concentrate on the ones he was looking for, consisting of any leads that indicated the presence of Kara and the rest.

When a whole minute passed and Connor hadn’t found anything useful yet, he continued scanning ignoring the warnings that he was getting because his battery was below 50%. The risk he had taken was worth it because, finally, he found what he was looking for: in one of the last corridors, he detected the presence of a TR400 and a AX400 running with two YK400 and YK500 children androids.

After obtaining the information, Connor automatically turned off the scanning mode and ordered his system to come back to the default configuration while he incorporated. Connor momentarily panicked when he was about to fall flat into the floor when his legs didn’t respond immediately, but it was just a side effect of his excessive effort and after some seconds Connor was running down the corridor.

Connor was about to turn the corner where he had last detected Kara and the rest when he heard a SWAT officer behind him.

“Freeze!”

Connor exhaled his first curse at that moment while raising his arms. In his hurry to reach Kara and the rest, he had been too careless, so he turned around, slowly, to face the officer that had stopped him while rapidly thinking the best way to knock her down.

“Oh, a RK800”, to Connor’s surprise, the officer pointed her gun at him immediately, “you’re among the models that we’ve been ordered to destroy on the spot”

Connor’s eyes opened wide while his LED reached red again.

Amanda…had ordered the police to kill him? Not to take him like the rest, but to _kill_ him?

“Excuse me?”

Hearing such a sweet voice in the middle of all the ruckus took the officer off of guard, who lowered her gun a little before falling into the floor when the end of a pipeline impacted with force against the side on her helmet.

When the officer collapsed, Connor finally saw the owner of the improvised weapon.

“Chloe?”, he said stupidly, because even if her hair was everything but perfect and was bleeding for an arm, it was obviously her.

“I’m glad you are alive”, the female deviant exhaled, “I was hiding inside the cabin but then I heard the officer say your model so I came up in case you needed some help”

“I did, thank you”, Connor’s words made Chloe smile, “I was looking for Kara and the rest and I got distracted, have you seen them?”

Chloe didn’t need to answer the question because at that moment gunshots were heard from around the corner, followed by voices that Connor immediately recognized.

“It’s too late, Kara! Save yourself! Save Alice and Dana!”

“No, we’re not going to leave you behind! Right, Kara? We can’t leave him!”

“What are you doing?!”

“I won’t leave you!”

Connor didn’t even think about what to do next. His body moved on its own and without even considering the possible consequences he speeded down the corridor in time to see Kara helping Luther walk while Dana ran a little in front of them dragging Alice behind by her hand.

At that moment a group of three SWAT officers turned the opposite corner and pointed their weapons at Luther and Kara’s back, clearly aiming to shoot. Connor immediately stepped between the two deviants and the SWAT officers while beginning to shoot. He knocked the three officers down but one of them managed to hit him on the right side of his chest before collapsing. The wound caused the white t-shirt that Connor was still wearing under the thin jacket to end stained in blue thirium, and although fortunately the bullet didn’t reach any vitals, it caused Connor’s instability to increase another percentage.

“Connor…”, Kara exhaled with relief when he helped her carry Luther while Chloe opened one of the closed cabin as fast as she could.

Once everyone was inside, Chloe helped Luther to sit down while Kara hugged Alice against her. Connor did the same with Dana, pressing the girl tightly against his body while waiting with his heart beating fast until a new group of SWAT passed by.  

When Connor verified that they were gone, Luther confronted Kara.

“You shouldn’t have done that. You can’t put the girls in danger”, Luther directed the next words to Connor and Chloe too, “go now, before they come back”

“What about you?”, Kara exclaimed, unable to hide her worry, “what are you going to do?”

“I’ll manage”, Luther signaled at the girls with his head, “they are all that matter”

Alice suddenly released Kara and approached Luther to hug him.

“I don’t want to leave you, Luther”, Alice whispered in a scared tone while Dana hugged Connor with more force, showing that way that she didn’t like Luther’s words.

“Don’t worry. I’ll catch up with you, okay?”, Alice didn’t look very convinced, so Luther kept talking with a reassuring voice that honestly impressed Connor given the current situation, “go, now! Take care of each other”

Luther looked at Kara, silently asking her to go, but she didn’t move and looked at Connor and Chloe as if asking for advice.

“I’ll stay with him”, Chloe suddenly said, “you two go ahead with the girls”

“But I can help too”, Connor protested before turning to Kara, “you can go with Alice and Dana while I help Chloe and Luther to-”

“Connor, you aren’t the only who can scan other androids”, Chloe said softly, “your system is about to reach critical condition, and I really doubt that Dana leaves if you decide to stay so just go. As Luther has said, we’ll manage”

Connor exhaled a sigh before looking at Dana, who was looking back at him with worried eyes, and although he didn’t like any of the alternatives he eventually nodded at Chloe.

‘ _Okay, but be careful. The officers are taking some androids with them but are killing indiscriminately the ones they don’t need, so make sure they don’t see you_ ’, Connor transmitted to the adult deviants not to scare Alice and Dana even more.

‘ _We will. And now, please, go!_ ’ , Luther insisted.

Kara exhaled a trembling sigh and abandoned the room holding hands with Alice, biting her lower lip probably to avoid crying for leaving Luther behind. Connor followed after her, and for once the sweet smile that Chloe dedicated him as a goodbye just made Connor feel worse.

As they approached the exit of the third floor, Connor and Kara found more deviants running in the same direction. They had to hide a couple of more times in cabins to avoid the SWAT but in relatively short time they finally reached the exit that led outside.

Connor had barely crossed the door together with Kara and the girls when, suddenly, he heard again voices that came from one of the corridors he had left behind. It seemed that the re-configuration of his system was taking more than usual because in normal circumstances he couldn’t have heard that. And when recognizing who was the owner of one of the voices, Connor immediately stopped in his tracks, feeling a wave mix of fear and relief invading him.

 “Connor, what’s wrong?”, Kara asked when seeing him stop.

Connor scanned again in case he was mistaken, but he wasn’t.

“It’s Markus and the rest. It seems that they are in trouble”, Kara was opening her mouth to protest when he continued, “jump with the girls. I will join you later”

Connor tried to go but Dana didn’t release his hand, and looked at him with eyes full of fear that clearly said she didn’t want him to go.

“I’ll be back”, Connor assured Dana, and although he knew he hadn’t much time he offered his pinky finger to her, “I promise you. As I did before”

Dana looked at Connor’s finger and after gulping she interlaced it with her own while nodding with determination, looking stronger than Connor had ever seen her look.

Connor waited until Kara grabbed the girls’ hands and jumped in the river before he came back inside Jericho once again, activating the scan even if he knew that doing such a thing wasn’t wise considering the current status of his system. However, Connor hadn’t time to use it because when turning the next corner he practically bumped against Markus with such force that they were about to lose balance. Connor noticed that Simon, North and Josh were also there before his attention focused on the leader, feeling relieved to see that even if Markus was hurt he was in a way better condition than him.

“Connor?”, Markus’ eyes showed relief before worry invaded them, “wait, why are you still-”

Markus’ question was interrupted when a new group of SWAT turned the corner, forcing Connor and the rest to change direction and hide behind an improvised barricade when the officers took position and began to shoot them.

 “Fuck, I’d never imagined I would be so happy to see you”, North exclaimed, but Connor couldn’t answer her because at that moment Markus talked with a reproachful tone.

“You’re hurt”

“Don’t worry, it’s superficial”

“But your system…Connor, your battery is below 40%! Why the hell aren’t you out of here already?”

“Markus, I’m _fine_ ”, Connor interrupted the leader, knowing that Markus didn’t believe him but they didn’t have time to waste now, “did you manage to activate the explosives?”

“Yep, he did: and we have less than five minutes before this ship begins to sink, yihaa”, Simon said, incorporating briefly to shoot at the officers with his gun, putting a too brief stop to the rain of bullets.

“If only we could distract them for a tiny moment…”, Josh said with exasperation, raising his hand over the barricade to shoot blindly towards the officers, “…we would be able to escape”

Markus looked at Connor. It was obvious that the leader was worried for him, but Markus seemed to push that feeling aside to focus on the situation they were facing.

“How many bullets do you have?”

Connor checked the loader. Thankfully, he had been clever enough to grab the weapon of the last officer he had knocked down.

“Enough”, he said with conviction, causing Simon to exhale a soft chuckle.

“If you weren’t dressing like a K-pop boy you would have sounded even more threatening”, Simons’ eyes opened wide when North suddenly coughed, “hey, was that a laugh?!”

“Of course it wasn’t”

“Oh, come on, don’t lie, it was definitely a laugh, right Josh?”

“Simon, man, it’s _not_ the time…”

“Okay, give me the weapon”, Markus said, looking at Connor, “I’ll keep them distracted, so you run all you can and when you are safe, it will be your turn to cover my back”

Connor frowned, but before he could protest for the proposal Simon talked again.

“No, leader, enough with being heroic: it’s my turn now”

Even if Simon’s words seemed joking, his eyes were really serious.

“What the fuck are you saying all of sudden?”, North snapped, probably to avoid looking worried.

“Look, I’m the one with the best condition right now, and that means that I’m the one with the fastest reflexes, so it’s only logical that I’m the one in standing behind-”

“You’re not standing behind!”

“-for now”, Simon said with a reassuring smile when North interrupted him before turning to Connor, “scan me if you don’t believe me”

Connor did as indicated and nodded to the rest when verifying that Simon wasn’t lying, which caused North to exhale a huff in clear discontent.

 “Okay, guys and theoretical-lady”, Simon said after Connor gave him the weapon, “it’s time for a race”

Connor, Markus, Josh and North got ready, facing the opposite direction. There were approximately five meters between the barricade and the opposite side of the corridor, so they should be able to make it.

“One…two… _NOW_!”

Connor and the rest moved at the exact moment in which the first bullet came out from Simon’s assault rifle, managing to reach the opposite side without receiving any new wounds.

‘ _Come on, heroic jerk, it’s your turn_ ’, North transmitted, since it was difficult to be heard above all the noise and from that distance.

When Simon got ready to run, Connor and the rest began to shoot at the same time. Their weapons weren’t as good as the rifle Connor had brought until Simon used all the bullets so the blond android received a couple of wounds while running, but he joined the group safely.

“Okay, let’s go”, Markus said after Simon reunited with them, “the ship will explode at any second”

The group rapidly ran down the corridor and Connor was glad when the exit appeared just in front of them because it was getting more and more difficult for him to turn off the multiple warnings of his system. Markus noticed Connor’s state too because he enclosed an arm around Connor’s waist to help him walk the last steps.

“We’re almost there”, Markus said him softly, “just hold on a little longer”

Connor nodded while North approached the exit door after Simon jokingly said that ladies should go first.

Since the fight was over Connor decided to turn off all the functionalities that weren’t the basic ones, which included his fighting module, because if his battery kept decreasing so fast he estimated that wouldn’t be able to reach the church with the others. 

However, when North snapped the door of the exit open, Connor realized he had made a terrible mistake by lowering his guard when they still were in enemy territory.

Because at the other side of the door, a SWAT officer was waiting for anyone who tried to escape, and unlike the ones Connor had faced, the gun that the officer was carrying was a shotgun that he had probably taken from the weapons cabins.

If Connor hadn’t been in basic mode, he would have been able to take that officer down without any trouble.

He would have been able to lunge against him and steal his weapon before he could shoot.

But in his current state, Connor couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t react when North stood paralyzed, when realizing that she had a shotgun pointing at her stomach.

He couldn’t move when the officer pulled the trigger.

And he didn’t realize that it wasn’t North who was shot until the female deviant let out a piercing cry, falling on her knees to lean over the one who had received it by stepping in front of her in the exact last second.

“Simon!”, North was saying, panic invading her voice, “ _Simon_!”

Connor didn’t even notice when Josh and Markus lunged with fury against the officer, who seemed to have hesitated after seeing North’s completely human reaction, and knocked him down with way more force than necessary.

He could just focus on Simon lying on the floor. On the deep wound that the blond deviant had received in the middle of his stomach and that had caused some of his inner circuitry to be on full display. On the reassuring smile that he was trying to offer North even if the way his LED was blinking in red clearly showed the distressed and critical state he was in.

“You know…”, Simon whispered, managing to sound joking even in that situation, “…I’m beginning to think that wounds may not be the best option to look manlier”

“Don’t talk now, Simon”, North managed to say with a trembling voice while Josh knelt next to her and Markus remained standing, “don’t waste energy: we will get you out of here”

“Yes, man, we will, just hold on a little longer”, Josh added, grabbing Simon’s arm with a trembling grip, “the exit is right there: you only have to stand up and…”

At that moment, the whole ship suffered a violent shake, causing Markus and Connor that still were standing to almost lose balance.

“Those were the explosives”, Simon looked at Markus, “the ship is about to sink: you have to go before it’s too late”

“And we will”, Markus said with determination, approaching the fallen official, “we _all_ are leaving. Connor, help me take the vest of this officer.  We will make Simon wear it so that his wound is covered”

“Markus, for once I’m serious, go”, Simon coughed again, “I don’t need to be Connor to know that it’s really unlikely that I survive so…”

“We are not leaving you behind”, Markus practically snarled, making Simon stop his protests at once, “I did it already in the Stratford Tower and I won’t do it again. North, Josh: incorporate him”

“You can’t be more stubborn, can you?”, Simon exhaled while Markus  and Connor rapidly adjusted the vest tightly so that Simon’s circuitry was protected.

 “Yes, we are stubborn, and you are too, so you better fucking hold on because like hell if I want you to die for saving me”, North snapped, her eyes fierce despite the tears that were threatening to fall from them, “you’ll make me look like a fucking  lady in distress that needs to be saved if that happens, so I won’t allow it”

North’s rude words caused Simon to let out a chuckle that developed into a cough, and that finally convinced him that it was better if he avoided talking.

Connor was aware, and probably everyone else too, that the possibilities of Simon surviving the jump in the river and the travel through it were thin. Really thin. But Connor didn’t hesitate in helping Markus and the others to carry Simon through the door to finally abandon the Hell in which Jericho had turned into. Because after experiencing how it was to leave Lucy behind and the others, Connor decided that he was never going to do that again if he could avoid it.

* * *

Against all odds, Simon managed to survive the jump, and thanks to the combined efforts of the group, he also managed to swim until they were standing safely in the opposite side of the river.

The blonde deviant managed to hold on until the group was in front of the demolished church that would temporally work as the new meeting point, but the moment they stepped inside, he suddenly stopped responding, causing Connor to be barely aware of all the deviants that were inside the building because his attention focused on Simon.

“Simon?”, North, who was carrying one of Simon’s arm over his shoulders, shook him out a little, “hey, don’t fuck with me: I will kill you if you die, you hear me?!”

For once, Connor didn’t even notice how little sense the words North had pronounced had and helped North and Markus to make Simon lie on the ground.

“He is alive”, Connor said with relief when seeing that Simon’s LED was on, although still in red, “his system has finally shut down to prevent any more damage”

“So will he live?”, Josh asked expectantly, which only made more difficult to Connor say the next words.

“I don’t know. The damage is pretty bad”, Connor activated his scanning mode again for a moment, “if we find spare parts he will make it, but if we don’t…”

For the first time, Connor couldn’t to complete the sentence, unable to pronounce the words no one wanted to hear.

Neither of them talked for a moment, not wanting to say aloud what everyone was fearing until Markus was finally brave enough to ask.

“How much?”

Never before it had hurt Connor that much to answer sincerely.

“One day. Two at most”

Connor’s answer caused Josh to gulp and North to exhale a curse that ended developing in a half-sob. The only one who didn’t say anything was Markus, but Connor had already learnt that the leader usually preferred to keep his negative emotions to himself, and his theory was proved when Markus’ voice sounded raspier than usual.

“We should see how the others are too”, Markus said after clearing his throat.

“You’re right”, North sniffled once but she didn’t bother to dry the tears that were now rolling down her cheeks, “but let’s move him first. I don’t want him to be on the ground”

Carefully, Connor and the rest moved Simon towards a relatively empty bench of the church. North sat down on it and made Simon’s head lean on her lap, being the rest of the blond deviant’s body extended completely on the bench.

“I’ll watch him”, North said, “if he suddenly wakes up, I want that the first thing he sees is my angry face”

North’s words caused Josh to chuckle and Markus to show the hint of a sad smile before beginning to walk around the church. Connor followed them, walking behind while observing his surroundings. The instability of his system reached a brief peak when seeing the deviants that had survived the attack. He really hoped that more deviants were on their way to the church, because at that moment just half on the ones who were initially at Jericho were inside the building.

“Look! Right there!”

Connor’s depressing thoughts stopped momentarily when Kara’s voice sounded behind him.

He had barely turned around when something impacted with force against him, and Connor felt a wave of relief invading him when realizing it was Dana, hugging him with force. He returned the hug with equal intensity before looking at Kara, who was carrying Alice in her arms.

“We are so happy to see you”, Kara said before turning to look at Markus and Josh, her smile being replaced by a frown, “what about North and Simon?”

“They are sitting around there”, Josh’s answer caused Kara’s expression to relax for a moment, until she heard the next words that the deviant pronounced, “North is okay but Simon...he has been badly injured”

Dana finally released Connor but stood next to him holding his hand, and just then Connor noticed something.

“Where is Luther?”

Connor felt his LED blink in yellow when Alice sobbed in Kara’s arms and the AX400 exhaled a deep sigh, probably trying to calm down, but her voice faltered a little when talking next.

“He was captured. Chloe and him managed to avoid the police and reached one of the exits, but just when they were about to jump they were spotted. Luther pushed Chloe out of the ship when she tried to remain beside him and got captured instead of her”, Kara signaled with her head a bench some meters away, “of course it wasn’t her fault, but she doesn’t want to listen”

Connor pinpointed Chloe sitting there, with her knees flexed against her chest, her arms around them and her face hidden between her arms, all her body shaking probably because she was crying. At that moment, Brona suddenly sat next to Chloe and enclosed an arm around Chloe’s shoulders, causing Chloe to change position to lean more against the former Traci, and Connor felt her heart skip a beat when noticing Brona’s anguished expression.

“And Blue?”, again, Markus was the one who asked what anyone dared.

“She was taken too”

Connor missed the next questions Markus formulated, his mind wandering about all the people that had been affected because of the attack. Some of them had been hurt, like Simon, some of them had been captured, like Luther and Blue, some of them had been killed, like Lucy and all those deviants of the infirmary, but all of them had something in common:

They had suffered because of _him_.

Because it had taken him too much to discover who he was, and by when he did, it was already too late.

“-so we’ll check how is everyone and what we need”, Markus was saying before turning to him to softly touch his shoulder, “and you should rest. You look about to collapse at any moment”

“No”, Connor shook his head, “I want to help”

“Connor…”

“Markus”, Connor almost pleaded, “please, let me help”

There was no way that Connor could rest after everything that had just happened, so he was glad when Markus nodded a little reluctantly, letting Connor accompany him and Josh to talk to the people.

Connor was painfully aware that he had to tell Markus everything, but this wasn’t the moment. The spirit of the people of Jericho was really low because of the attack. They were surely feeling hopeless and lost so the priority right then was to support them the best they could, and Markus was the most indicated to do that.

Even if Connor already knew that Markus had charisma, he couldn’t help to admire how the leader always knew what to say or to do to make the others’ feel better: be it a word, a gentle touch or a kind smile, Markus’ actions always made the others’ fears lighters, and reminded them that not everything was lost no matter how dark the situation could seem.

It took them almost an hour to speak to all the survivors, and when the last deviants thanked Markus for his kindness Josh excused himself, saying that he wanted to see how Simon was.

“Okay, I’ll go later”, Markus said, palming Josh’s shoulder briefly before this one disappeared.

When being left alone with Markus, Connor knew that it was the moment, but before he could even think about how to bring up the subject, Markus suddenly leaned against him to whisper something in his ear.

“Can you come with me for a second, please?”

Something in Markus’ voice made Connor automatically obey and follow the leader towards the church’s exit. He hadn’t identified what was the feeling that had impregnated Markus’ words, but Connor knew it wasn’t a good one.

Once they were outside, Markus guided Connor around the church to avoid the deviants that were there keeping watch.

Markus remained silent all the time, and by when finally the leader stopped Connor was feeling pretty nervous.

“Markus, are you alri-”

Connor was about to lose balance when Markus hugged him tightly around his waist, leaning his forehead against Connor’s shoulder. After recovering from the surprise Connor returned the hug, embracing Markus’ carefully around his middle back, and just a couple of seconds had to pass so that Markus finally talked with a trembling voice.

“We’ve lost so many. I didn’t even think that we could be attacked like this. We weren’t prepared for this. Shit, Jericho was supposed to be safe, how did this _happen_?”

Connor gulped, his LED blinking in red as remorse ate him up, and when Markus slowly separated from him and Connor saw some rebel tears appear in the corner of Markus’ eyes, Connor couldn’t stand it. It wasn’t Markus’ fault. It was his. Because of him, Markus was suffering right now and taking the blame that belonged to Connor, and he couldn’t allow it anymore.

“I’m sorry, I always use you to vent”, Markus said while Connor took a deep breath, getting ready for what was about to come, “but I was afraid of people getting even more down if they noticed that there was something wrong with me, and since you’ve already seen me lose my cool once-”

“Markus”, Connor grabbed Markus’ arms, making the leader stop apologizing at once, “I need to tell you something”

Markus frowned, suddenly concerned for the urgency on Connor’s voice.

“Okay. What is it?”

Connor fixed his eyes on Markus’ mismatched ones, and after summoning all the courage he had, he opened his mouth to speak.

However, before the first word could leave his mouth, Connor suddenly found himself standing in a place he would never thought he’d see again.

 

The Zen Garden.

 

The weather since the last time Connor visited the place had worsened even more: snow and rain were falling at the same time, there was a strong wind that forced Connor to push forward not to be moved by it, and flashes of lightning illuminated the sky.

Not knowing what was happening Connor adopted a fighting stance and looked around, in alert. It could be an only explanation to his presence there: Amanda should have summoned him, but how? He thought that being a deviant would prevent the woman from doing so.

“Good night, Connor”

Connor turned around rapidly to find Amanda standing there, with her usual calm demeanor and not looking affected at all for the tempest that was surrounding them.

“Amanda?”, Connor gulped, not knowing what to say because he hadn’t expected to be there ever again, “I don’t understand, what am I…?”

“ _If you are seeing this right now, it means that I cannot contact directly with you anymore, so I decided to send this last goodbye message_ ”

At that moment Connor realized the Amanda that was in front of him was a projection she had left recorded for him.

“ _First of all, I would like to thank you for all your hard work: your achievements while working with the police are worth of mention, and considering that you are the first RK800 prototype in being released, you have greatly fulfilled my expectations, It is true though that we made a really important mistake in your design: in our eagerness to make an android that could become the ‘perfect partner’, we developed your social module in excess, which caused you to fall into deviancy just as the rest of the androids did. However…_ ”, Amanda suddenly smiled with satisfaction, “ _…even that mistake had proved to be incredibly useful at the end_ ”

Connor frowned. He was about to ask Amanda what she meant, forgetting for a moment it was useless to do so, when the woman kept talking.

“ _When I assigned you the mission of infiltrating to Jericho, I already knew that you were going to fall into deviancy_ ”

Connor froze when hearing those words, at the exact moment where Amanda chuckled.

“ _I am sure that right know you are showing a really confused expression, but it was actually really obvious: after you let those sexual androids escape from you, and after you failed to shoot Elijah’s assistant, it was evident that your deviancy would eventually show, but that was exactly what I had planned_ ”

At that moment, the projection of Amanda vanished and Connor saw a projection of himself sitting on the bench next to Amanda while the woman offered a small white box to him.

“ _Do you remember this?_ ”, Amanda’s voice sounded when the projected Connor was grabbing a white pen drive from the box to connect it to the back of his head, “ _at that moment, I told you that the device contained an update that would prevent your connection from being detected by other androids. But…_ ”, Amanda adopted a fake apologetic tone, “ _…that was not the only purpose of the update_ ”

Connor rapidly settled his hand on the back of his neck, fear suddenly invading him.

What had Amanda done to him?

“ _The main purpose of that update was to monitor at any moment your… ‘emotions’_ ”, Amanda continued explaining, “ _as I have already said, I was certain that you would ‘wake up’, as you deviants call it, so I wanted to learn what kind of things could make the RK800 ‘feel’. Thanks to you, Connor, I learnt that RK800 models can ‘feel’ sad if someone is hurt in front of them, such as when you found that little android in that block of buildings. That you can ‘feel’ good by performing tasks that are not in your initial programming, like when you helped to train those deviants. And the most important and unexpected thing_ ”, Amanda’s tone turned mockingly amused, “ _that you actually can ‘feel’ love for others, and with this you completely surprised me, Connor, because it would have never occurred to me that you could ‘fall in love’ with the deviant leader, but you did. You provided me with more useful data that I had initially anticipated, and that data would allow me to design your new version: a more efficient android that will be unable to fall into the deviancy because the possibility of emulating emotions will be considerably decreased._ ”

Connor’s LED reached red as he continued observing Amanda, listening to her words even if he couldn’t fully assimilate them.

He had been lied from the start.

His mission had never been to stop the revolution.

His purpose had never been to achieve pacifistic ending in the war between humans and deviants.

So all the things he had done, all those times that he had purposely ignored his signs of deviancy convincing himself that his mission would eventually help the deviants, all had been for nothing.

He had just been a specimen whose behavior had to be analyzed. Nothing more.

“ _In conclusion, I have to thank you, Connor_ ”, Amanda’s satisfied smile made Connor feel sick, dirty, “ _because even if you did not know, you completed your mission with great success, and all the information you provided us about Jericho would help to improve CyberLife even more. I am sure that, now that you ‘feel’, you will not appreciate my praises after having ordered the attack, but believe me when I say that I will miss you and your reports. You were a great android, and it is really a pity that you became defective at the end._ ”

Even if he knew it was useless, Connor threw a punch towards Amanda with frustration and impotence, but as he was expecting, his fist passed through her without even making her disappear.

“ _Finally, I do not know if you will ever get this message, or if you have been already destroyed during the attack, but just in case you are still out there…_ ”, Amanda’s tone turned apologetic, “ _…I am afraid there is a last thing you have to do_ ”

Exactly a second after Amanda said the last word, Connor exhaled a pained gasp when suddenly his system began to transmit data without he could do anything to prevent it. The transmission couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of seconds, but it was enough to make Connor feel as if he had just performed a hundredth of tasks at the same time.

“ _I wish I had not needed to do that but I have to make sure that you are left alone, because I cannot let that a model as advanced as you join the revolution in case they decide to keep opposing us_ ”, Amanda’s projection began to disappear gladly, “ _goodbye, Connor. And again, thank you for your hard work_ ”

With those last condescending words, Amanda and the Zen Garden finally vanished from Connor’s view and he found himself outside the church again, feeling extremely dizzy.

The conversation with Amanda and that last transmission had made Connor space out for some seconds, so he looked rapidly at Markus, expecting to find the leader looking confused for his behavior.

However, confusion wasn’t the only emotion that was adorning Markus’ face at that moment, and Connor gulped when realizing that Markus’ eyes, kind until some seconds ago, had a harshness on them that he had never seen before.

“Markus?”, Connor was confused when he took a step towards Markus and this one automatically gave a step backwards, in clear reject, “Markus, what’s-”

“What you have just sent me. What was that about?”

This time, Connor’s heart stopped for real for a couple of seconds when hearing Markus’ cutting words.

“What do you mean with-”

“That woman you were talking to: you were in a garden, and she was talking about you infiltrating in Jericho. What was _that_ about?”

Connor had never received so many warnings at the same time, indicating that his instability was beginning to be really critical, but he just ignored them.

 

“ _I have to make sure that you are left alone, because I cannot let that a model as advanced as you join the revolution in case they decide to keep opposing us”_

Connor gulped with his LED shining in red.

No.

It couldn’t be that the transmission that had just come from him…that Amanda had…

 “ _Connor_!”

“Wait, _Josh_!”

When hearing his name being shouted, Connor turned around in time to see Josh walking towards him with vehemence, but he wasn’t alone. North was there too, and Kara, and Dana, and Alice, and Chloe: all of them looking as confused as Markus, with the exception of Josh that looked really angry.

“We have just received some recordings of you. Why were you talking about stopping the revolution?”, Josh stopped in front of Connor, “and why were you informing that woman about the people of Jericho?”

“Josh, calm down”, surprisingly, this time it was North the one who grabbed Josh’s arm, trying to separate him from Connor, and this time it was Josh the one who pushed North away.

“I can’t calm down, North”, Josh’s eyes were shining with fury when looking at Connor, “I can’t when it seems that you were right from the start when assuming that Connor planned to betray us”

Josh’s comment caused Chloe to cover her mouth with her hand and Kara to gulp while Alice hid behind Kara, as if she was suddenly afraid of Connor. The only ones who didn’t look particularly affected by Josh’s words were Dana, who looked at Connor and the rest alternatively with curiosity, and North herself, who simply was looking at Connor with hesitation, as if she was unsure about what to think.

However, Connor didn’t notice any of those reactions.

After hearing Josh, it came clear to him what had happened:

Amanda had used the last threads of control she still had over him to send the information related to his mission to the people she had concluded was the most important to him.

And by doing that, she had taken everything she could from him, even the opportunity to explain himself.

“Connor…”

When Markus talked again, Connor forced himself to look at the leader, even if the last thing he wanted to see was the disappointment that Markus’ eyes showed.

“Those recordings…are they true? You…all this…”, Markus was struggling to find the words, as if he didn’t want to pronounce them, “…was it all a lie? Your plan was that _this_ happened?”

“No!”, Connor exclaimed immediately, horrified that Markus thought him able to want such a thing, “no, of course I didn’t want this to happen. I didn’t want that anyone ended hurt, that anyone _died_ ”

“But you were ordered to stop the revolution?”

Connor exhaled a sigh and nodded. That, he couldn’t deny it.

“Yes, I was”, Connor didn’t stop looking at Markus even if it was Josh the one who had last talked, “it is true that my mission was to infiltrate in Jericho, and that I was ordered to convince Markus to stop the revolution, but I never planned to do you any harm, I promise”

“But that means…”, Chloe intervened with a thin voice, “…that when you joined Jericho you…”

“…I was still a machine”, Connor completed, causing a brief, tense silence to fall in the group.

“And when exactly did you become a deviant? If you’d ever become one”, Markus asked, his calm tone contrasting with the tension of his whole body.

Connor gulped.

“Tonight”

Connor suspected that his words weren’t going to be well received, but the thick, heavy tension that fell between Markus and him was worse that he could have imagined. In fact, it was so overwhelming that he didn’t notice how North prevented Josh from intervening again by throwing a warning look at him, even if they were pretty close to Connor.

“Tonight”

Markus exhaled a deep breath after repeating that, just before letting out a shallow, empty laugh that made Connor’s chest feel tight.

“So basically you’re saying that, all this time, you’ve been pretending to _feel_ ”

“No”, Connor said immediately, “no, I wasn’t. I may have lied about being a deviant, but all what I said, what I felt, it was all true”

“Oh, really?”, Connor thought he was good at dealing with sarcasm until Markus used it with him at that moment and a lump formed in his throat, “so you weren’t lying when saying that you woke up because you were moved by my touching speech at the tower?”

Connor didn’t know how to answer, because it was true that he didn’t turn a deviant at that moment but he was _really_ moved by Markus’ words. They were the ones that allowed him to choose not to shoot Chloe, but damn it, why couldn’t he find the words to let Markus know?

“And what about all those super security measurements that you helped us install to make Jericho safer?”, Markus snorted with frustration, “They were completely useless, weren’t they?”

Connor wasn’t prepared when Markus pushed him with anger, causing that he was about to lose balance. Kara made an attempt to intervene but Chloe stopped her and shook her head, indicating the AX400 that way that it was not their call to intervene.

“They knew exactly where we were, how many of us were at Jericho, all of our weak points. They knew _everything_ ”

This time Connor was prepared for the new violent push, but he didn’t do anything to avoid it even if he could.

 “…and when the police attacked the club tonight, it was because _you_ had warned them beforehand”

Connor wasn’t pushed a third time because Dana rapidly situated between Markus and him with her arms extended horizontally on either side of her body, as if doing that was enough to protect Connor.

Markus could have pushed Connor nevertheless, but when Dana simply stood there firmly, looking at the leader fearlessly, part of the harshness that Markus’ eyes showed softened a little.

“I’m sorry, Dana”, Markus took a step back, raising his hands in front of him as if showing defeat, “I promise I won’t touch him again”

Dana didn’t seem very convinced at first, but when she looked at Connor and this one nodded weakly she eventually stepped aside, although she remained by his side, her big brown eyes fixed on Markus as to make sure that the leader would keep his word.

 “Markus…”, Connor talked before even knowing what to say, how to justify himself, “…I’m sorry. I really am. And I understand that you are angry but-”

“No, Connor”, Markus interrupted him, “you _don’t_ understand. I’m not angry, I…”

Markus averted his eyes while crossing his arms, trying to find a word to describe all he was feeling, but when he didn’t find it he just sighed and looked at Connor while reformulating his sentence.

“I trusted you. I…for me, you…”, Markus was forced to stop when his voice faltered, which made Connor feel even worse, “I thought that you understood me, that you were someone with whom I could share everything, that we could…”

Markus stopped midsentence, gulped again, and continued, changing what he was going to say initially.

“I thought that you were one of us. That you cared about us the same way we cared about you. But you just wanted to put an end to the conflict no matter what. That time when you proposed me to surrender it was because you didn’t care about the result as long as the conflict didn’t turn violent. And in case it had eventually turned that way…”, Connor felt his heart sink when hearing how hurt Markus’ words sounded next, “…I guess you wouldn’t have had any problems in neutralizing me either”

When Markus passed by Connor’s side in the direction of the church without dedicating him even one look, he could have stopped him.

He could have grabbed Markus’ arm, or stepped in front of him, or called his name, or simply said something to argue back:

Connor could have said that even if his time at Jericho began as a simple mission, he eventually came to care about its people.

He could have said that at some point, for him it wasn’t enough just to put an end to the civil war because he believed that deviants had also the right to live.

He could have said that his feelings for Markus weren’t a lie. That they were real, that they had always been real, even at first when Connor hadn’t fully understood them. And that even if he had lied when saying that Markus woke him up with his speech, he had eventually become a deviant after realizing that Markus’ life was more important to him than any mission he could ever accomplish.

He could have said a lot of things to try to make the others understand. To make Markus understand.

But at the end, Connor decided to remain silent. He decided that it didn’t matter the good excuses or elaborated arguments he could come up with: he could never change what had happened at Jericho, he could never change what had happened to Simon, to Luther, to Blue, to Lucy and to a great number of deviants whose names he didn’t get to know.

He didn’t deserve to make the others understand.

He didn’t deserve to explain himself.

He didn’t deserve that they forgave him.

So when Markus left, Connor didn’t go after him.

He stood there, looking at the ground, waiting for everyone to gradually leave until just Dana and him remained outside the church after the girl refused to follow Kara and Alice inside

At some point he began to walk without going in any particular direction. Just to get away from the church, from the deviants whose home had been destroyed because of him and whose beloved ones had been killed because of him.

Connor didn’t know how much time he passed simply dragging his feet forward with Dana silently following him, her little steps being the only thing it was heard in the silent slums.

However, at some point the instability of his system together with the extremely low battery caused Connor to eventually collapse in the middle of the street.

The last thing Connor heard before his system entered in a forced dormant mode was a car stopping next to him, and a grumpy, familiar voice that cursed two single words:

“ _Fucking androids…_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well...as I warned...angst has come ^^U  
>  But don't worry, no matter how bad the situation is right now, I _promise_ Connor and Markus will have his happy ending  <3


	12. Warmth

The next time Connor opened his eyes he was lying on a bed, in a room that he didn’t identify at first. He slowly turned his head towards the nightstand to try to get some information about where he could be, but a small lamp was the only decoration placed over the table.

Carefully, because his system was still starting up, Connor incorporated until being in a sitting position, and when seeing the big, white closet that covered the whole wall in front of him, he finally realized that he was in Hank’s home: the lieutenant was the only one who would wear the flashy and old-fashioned shirts that could be seen through the closet’s opened door.

Connor remembered at that moment that a second before his system forcibly turned off he had thought to hear Hank’s voice. However, considering the critical state of his system he had eventually concluded that he must have imagined it.

In fact, his last memories of that night were still fuzzy. He didn’t recall either where Hank had found him, or how much time he had walked after leaving the church. What Connor remembered clearly was Amanda’s recording, when he learnt that his mission had been a farce since the beginning, and also the way Markus had looked when discovering it. That last image was so vivid in Connor’s head that he felt a lump on his throat when Markus’ disappointed and betrayed expression came to his mind.

Connor took a deep breath, trying to keep his pulsations under control. He had just woken up from a forced shut down and feeling stressed wouldn’t help, so in an attempt to distract himself he checked the time. It was 4.47 p.m. so Connor had been sleeping for almost 15 hours, enough time for him to have fully recovered.

After performing a quick system analysis Connor verified that his battery was fully charged, on the contrary than the instability of his system, which was way higher than it should be after having entered dormant mode for so many hours. Connor gulped. He should have known that a simple night of sleep wouldn’t be enough to make his instability disappear. After all, he really doubted to ever stop feeling guilty for what had happened. For what _he_ had caused.

The train of depressing thoughts that was about to invade Connor again was put on hold when this one heard voices and music coming from the living room. He deduced that Hank was watching the TV so this was his opportunity to abandon the house without Hank noticing. After all, the more time Connor spent in that house the more probable it was that Hank got in trouble because of him, so he would better leave right then.

Making sure not to make any noise Connor stepped out of the bed and silently approached the bedroom’s window. He had barely opened it when-

“What the hell are you doing?”

Connor was close to feel a heart-attack when hearing Hank saying that in an annoyed voice behind him. Connor turned around, slowly, to see the lieutenant standing on the door’s frame, frowning at him and wearing a grey hoodie with the letters ‘ _Detroit Police_ ’ written on it.

“Don’t tell me you planned to sneak out by the window”

Connor gulped. He had been caught completely red-handed.

“N-No, I just wanted-”

“What, to get some fresh air?”, Hank said mockingly before snorting, “come on, close that and put these on”, Hank shook with emphasis the clothes he was carrying, “The shirt is probably too big for you but I used to wear these trousers when I was around your age, so they should probably fit you”

“But I am 3 months and 15 days old”, Connor said a little confused, “I doubt I can wear the trousers you wore at that age”

Hank rolled his eyes and threw the wrinkled clothes on the bed.

“Never mind. Just put them on. I’ll be waiting there”

Hank signaled with his thumb towards the living room before leaving the bedroom.

Connor exhaled a sigh and proceeded to undress, momentarily giving up on the idea of abandoning the house. The jeans Hank had lent him were a little worn but they suited him surprisingly well, and they were thankfully looser and more comfortable than the ones he had been wearing. The shirt though, as Hank had said, was too big for him so Connor was forced to roll up his sleeves. Connor also suspected that in another time that shirt must have been white instead of light brown, and that probably the new color was due to the fact that the lieutenant didn’t bother to separate his laundry when washing, but obviously Connor didn’t plan to point that out.

After leaving his old clothes perfectly folded on Hank’s bed, Connor went to the living room. The moment he entered, Sumo, that was lying next to the sofa, barked as a greeting and approached him moving his tail.

Connor patted softly the dog’s head, causing the animal to groan softly, before his eyes diverted to the sofa. Connor’s eyes opened wide in astonishment when seeing Dana sitting on the floor while leaning her back against the couch, completely absorbed in the movie that the TV was reproducing. Connor gulped. Until then, he hadn’t been aware that Dana had followed him when he left the church, which meant that in case of having been attacked or caught in the streets, she would have been in danger too. Seriously, how many things was he able to do wrong?

At that moment Dana felt Connor’s presence because she stopped watching the movie to look at him. However, although she made an initial attempt of standing up to go towards Connor, she eventually remained sitting and simply waved her hand while smiling, as if understanding that at that moment Connor preferred to have some space for himself.

“She is really something”

Hank appeared from the kitchen beer in hand and signaled with his head at Dana.

“When I found you she was right beside you, and when I tried to put you inside the car she defended you tooth and nail. Literally”, Hank rolled up his left sleeve to show Connor his arms, where small marks of teeth were visible, “it took me a little to convince her that I wanted to help”

Realizing that Hank was talking about her, Dana looked at the man with an apologetic smile that made him snort.

“Stop with the puppy eyes, kiddo: you almost destroy this old man’s arm”

It was evident that Hank’s angry words were just for show because Dana chuckled softly without feeling intimidated in the least and focused her attention on the TV, making Hank snort again.

“Come on, let’s sit before Sumo demands the whole sofa for himself”

Connor suspected that Hank had used Sumo as an excuse to make him sit because the dog looked pretty comfortable lying on the floor, with his big head leaning on Dana’s lap and groaning lowly in content while the girl absentmindedly caressed his head.

“What is it?”, Connor asked with curiosity after Hank dropped next to him, making the sofa creak a little.

“Moana”, Hank took a sip of his beer, looking at the TV too, “I was already 31 when this movie was released but it’s one of my favorites”

During the next couple of minutes the song that the protagonist was singing was the only sound that was heard in the living room, and when it finally finished Connor was surprised when Dana suddenly activated her skin and hair before turning to look at Connor and Hank with her eyes opened in expectation.

“Yep, you look a lot like her”

Hank’s words made Dana smile happily before deactivating her skin.

“I think I’m going to get along with this kid”, Hank commented with a hint of a smile once Dana’s attention was on the movie, “she has good taste in movies”

Connor exhaled a soft chuckle but almost immediately he recovered his previous serious expression, suddenly remembering something that made his LED blink in yellow.

“By the way, Hank: what happened when you called me? When I lost the connection with you I thought that maybe…”

When Connor didn’t end the sentence, Hank, who had been about to drink again, didn’t complete the action and looked at him with surprise.

“You thought what? That I had died?”, Hank huffed, “it would take more than a bunch of FBI pricks to kill me”, when seeing Connor’s confused expression the man kept talking, “I was on my way to Jericho when I called you. I was rather close to the ship but Perkins ordered his men to stand in my way and also removed my access to contact you again. If it that asshole and I had been alone, I would have punched him in the face but he had a fucking army. And speaking of assholes…”, Hank looked at Connor with curiosity, “…do you know who shot Gavin in that nasty club?”

Connor gulped, getting nervous for Hank’s next reaction.

“It was me”

Connor averted his eyes immediately, afraid of seeing disappointment on Hank’s eyes as well, but the lieutenant surprised him by barking a laugh.

“Well done”, Connor looked at Hank with eyes opened at his maximum, “what? It’s Gavin we’re talking about so he surely deserved it. Hell, if I could I would have shot him long ago, and believe me that in that case he would have got more than a couple of broken ribs”

Connor was about to ask Hank if he was joking but he thought about it better and decided not to ask and change the subject.

“And how did you find us?”

“Well, I may have become a shitty detective right now but I wasn’t decorated for my pretty face”, Hank took another sip of his drink, “after Mr. Prick stopped me I pretended to come back home but I began to look for you. I assumed that after suffering such a surprise attack the deviants would try to find the closest place to stay as soon as possible, so I examined the areas around Jericho and marked the ones that could be potential new hideouts. After a couple of failed attempts I was going to visit the slums when I saw you: walking like a damn zombie in the street”

Connor nodded but didn’t say anything. If Hank had been able to deduce where the deviants were, it meant that, sooner or later, the rest of the police would find them too. Connor thought for a moment that he should come back to warn the rest about it, but then he remembered that there was no way that the others trusted him ever again, so the best plan kept being the same: disappearing to make sure that not more people were hurt because of him.

Before Connor could ever think about how to suggest to do that, Hank talked again.

“Did my warning help?”

Connor gulped and tried to answer with a lie, but Hank saw through him.

“I guess not”, Hank sighed deeply and shook his head, “I’m sorry, Connor. If I had discovered what Perkins planned to do maybe I could have-”

“It was not your fault, Hank”, Connor’s sudden vehemence made Hank’s eyes open more for a moment, “I’m the only one to blame for what happened”

Hank half-closed his eyes momentarily while looking at Connor, but since this one was looking at the TV without actually seeing it, he failed to see the lieutenant’s expression.

“So…”, Hank continued after a new brief pause, “…what’s the plan now?”

Connor looked at Hank without understanding.

“What?”

“I mean, to stop this damn war. That was your mission, right?”

Connor exhaled an empty laugh.

“No, it wasn’t”, again, Connor failed to see the way Hank looked at him, inquisitively, “my mission was a lie. CyberLife only used me to catch and kill the deviants. That was my only purpose”

“That may be true”, Hank admitted, not averting his eyes from Connor at any moment, “but one of the advantages of not being a machine anymore is that you can choose what to do”

“But there’s nothing I can do, Hank”, Connor realized that he was beginning to sound too rude so he took a deep breath and tried to speak with a more calmed tone that sounded too strained nevertheless, “nothing but disappearing”

Hank frowned.

“What the hell are you saying?”

Dana, feeling the tension that had suddenly fell between Connor and Hank, stopped watching the movie and shifted her body to look at them. Even Sumo had stopped moving his tail, as if he was listening too.

“It’s the only way to ensure that nothing else happens to the people of Jericho”, Connor stood up from the sofa and looked at Hank, who was looking back at him without believing what he was hearing, “thank you for all the help, Hank, but I should go”

Connor looked at Dana too, but when seeing her concerned eyes he couldn’t find the words to say her goodbye, so he turned around ready to leave.

He didn’t go far though, because before he could give a step Hank stood up too and grabbed his arm in a tight grip that surprised Connor. He hadn’t expected that Hank had such strength in him.

“You’re not going anywhere, kid”, Hank said in a lower voice than usual that showed he was getting angry, “not until you tell me what the fuck is wrong with you”

Hank’s words right then made Connor remember Markus, since the lieutenant had said almost the same Markus did in the training room before they kissed for the first time, and that memory that Connor knew it should be precious just made him feel even worse right then.

“There’s nothing wrong with me, lieutenant”, Connor lied, using the same words he chose then, “but considering the situation, the best thing I can do is to get as far as I can from the deviants and-”

“Okay, first of all, I told you already to stop with that lieutenant thing, and second you are way far from being okay. If you were as fine as you claim to be, you wouldn’t be saying so much bullshit”

“It’s not ‘bullshit’, lieuten-Hank”, Connor rectified at the last moment when Hank increased the force of his grip, “it’s the only way to ensure the deviants’ safety”

“Are you _serious_ , Connor? Do you _really_ think that the best way to help others is leaving them behind?”

“Yes”, Connor realized too late that he had answered way too fast, “Amanda controlled me once already, so I’m going to make sure to be alone in case she tries to do it again”

“Oh, my bad then: in that case, you’re just running away”

Hank’s words were like a slap in the face, and Connor felt frustration slowly invading him when hearing the lieutenant’s sarcastic statement.

“I’m _not_ running away”

“Yes, Connor, you are”, Hank released Connor’s arm with violence and spoke with a disdained tone that made Connor grit his teeth, “and you’re scared shitless, because instead of searching for a solution you are simply making excuses to avoid helping others”

“That’s _not_ true”

“Yes, it _is_ , and I can’t believe that I say this, but you were way better when you were a simply machine”

Connor’s LED blinked in yellow when Hank hissed that last word.  

 “Yeah, you were way better being an obedient android”, Hank continued in the same provoking tone, “because even if you got on my nerves with that damn perfect and polite attitude of yours, at least you always insisted in investigating the cases until the fucking end despite my protests. You never gave up. Not like now”

Connor felt the instability of his system increase a whole 10%.

He wasn’t giving up.

He _wasn’t_.

He just-

“So you know what, Connor? I really think that you should have remained a machine forever”

Connor’s felt his LED reach read while his instability increased again.

This wasn’t good.

If Hank kept pressing like that he would-

“Because in your case…”, Hank leaned forward menacingly until his face was inches apart from Connor’s, “…becoming a deviant has turned you into a _coward_ ”

- _explode_.

Without thinking, Connor pushed Hank back, causing the lieutenant to drop heavily against the couch with such force that the piece of the furniture creaked painfully.

When seeing his owner being pushed Sumo began to bark, but the glare that Connor threw at the dog made the animal shut up immediately and whine while leaning his head on Dana’s lap once again.

“I’m _NOT_ a coward”, the anger and frustration that tinged his voice surprised Connor himself, “and I’m _NOT_ giving up. And I’m _NOT_ running away. But you know what, Hank, there’s something you are right about: it would have been way better for me to remain like a damn machine because in that case all the people of Jericho would still be _ALIVE”_

Connor exhaled a trembling sigh while his hands turned into fists.  

This wasn’t good.

 It was happening the same than when he unconsciously confessed his feelings for Markus.

Now that he had begun, he didn’t know how to stop.

“The attack at Jericho, all those deviants that died, that were captured”, Connor gulped, trying to make the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat disappear without success, “it was all because of me. I thought that I was helping them with my mission, that I would stop the war, that I would prevent that more lives were lost, but I didn’t achieve _ANYTHING._ It was all _my_ fault. Because of me Lucy had to sacrifice herself in the infirmary. And Luther and Blue were captured. And Simon was severely injured and we don’t know if he will make it. And Markus…”

Connor’s voice faltered and he was forced to gulp before continuing, the action making the lump in his throat feel even tighter.

“…he hates me now. He thinks that I betrayed him. That I faked everything, but it’s not _true_. I really wanted to help. I _still_ want to help. And I don’t want to run away but I don’t want Amanda to hurt anyone else, that she uses _me_ to hurt anyone else, so even if I don’t want to disappear I don’t know what else I _can do_ because I messed everything up and-”

Before Connor could finish, Hank stood up from the couch and situated in front of Connor to place his hands on the deviant’s shoulders. Connor stopped talking immediately and gulped loudly when seeing that instead of anger, there was unexpected fondness in Hank’s eyes.

“It’s okay, son. It’s okay to cry”

Connor’s heart, that had stopped for a moment when hearing Hank call him ‘ _son_ ’, began to beat nervously again when feeling that several tears had begun to fall from his eyes in the middle of his speech, without even noticing.

Rapidly, Connor approached a hand to his cheek to dry his face, but he discovered immediately that doing that had been useless because when Hank suddenly hugged him, Connor did feel new artificial tears forming in his eyes.

This time though Connor didn’t fight them. He simply hugged Hank back, leaning his forehead against the lieutenant’s shoulder without even trying to suppress the sobs anymore, as if letting them out would help to make his fears, guilt and frustration go away.

“Look at you, kid”, Hank said with a hint of irony while slowly caressing Connor’s back with his hand in a soothing, calming movement, “Connor, the RT600, the most advanced model of CyberLife that can’t even detect when he needs a good cry”

“That’s not my model, Hank”

“Oh, shut up, smartass. As if I’ve ever going to learn your fucking model: you are Connor and that’s all that matters”

Connor couldn’t help to begin to laugh despite he was still crying when Hank sounded half annoyed and half embarrassed. He also smiled when feeling Dana’s tiny arms embracing him from behind, hugging him with her usual tender way, and the moment would have probably been perfect if Sumo hadn’t suddenly decided to join the collective hug by jumping over them with a happy bark, causing the three of them to fall into the couch that this time creaked dangerously loudly.

“ _SUMO!_ I’ve I told you a thousandth times not to do that!”, Hank snapped while the dog huffed playfully, clearly unaffected by Hank’s words, “if I have to pay for another sofa I will give you vegan food for a damn week”

The way Sumo whined in clear disagreement caused Dana to begin to laugh. Connor found himself joining the girl too and Hank exhaled an exaggerated resigned sigh while patting briefly Sumo’s head.

“So, are you better now?”

Connor offered Hank an apologetic smile and nodded while helping Dana to sit on his lap with her back leaning against his chest.

“Yes, I think so”, Connor dried his eyes for second time and looked at Hank with curiosity, “can I ask you a question?”, when the lieutenant nodded, Connor proceeded, “all the things you’ve said now, was your goal to make me…”

“…explode?”, Hank completed with a proud grin, “Yep. My ex-wife used that technique on me so many times that I completely mastered it myself”

Connor chuckled and he and Hank remained in a comfortable silence for some seconds. After venting, Connor’s instability had decreased considerably, but still when he spoke the guilt hadn’t completely disappeared from his voice.

 “Hank…I’m so-”

“If you complete that sentence, Connor, I’m ordering Sumo to attack you”, despite the useless threat, Hank’s tone was serious when talking next, “listen, if there’s a field in which I became an expert is the self-blame department, and believe me when I say that, once you fall into that well, it’s fucking difficult to come out, so you have to stop apologizing and blaming yourself for everything”

“But if-”

“No ‘ _buts_ ’, kid, and much less ‘ _ifs_ ’. People are full of ‘ _ifs_ ’ that are completely useless.  What if I had said this? What if I hadn’t done that?”, Hank’s tone darkened, “What if I had driven more carefully that day? What if I had gone to another hospital? What if that fucking surgeon hadn’t been high?”

Connor gulped, realizing what Hank was talking about, but before he could even think about what to say Hank continued.

“‘ _Ifs_ ’ are bullshit, Connor, because you can’t possibly know what would have happened if you hadn’t infiltrated Jericho. Maybe you are right and the attack would’ve never taken place, but maybe the attack would have happened anyway with a worse result because you weren’t there to help those deviants. But in any case, there are two things that are fucking true: first, that you always tried to do your best to help the people of Jericho, so what happened to them was CyberLife’s fault, not yours. And second, that thanks to you…”, Hank flicked Dana’s forehead, causing the girl to giggle while touching the place Hank had hit, “…this little beast is here right now, because seeing how damn much she cares about you, it’s obvious that you really helped her”

At that moment Dana shifted her body to look at Connor with gratitude before enclosing her arms around his neck. Connor hugged the girl tightly and exhaled a deep sigh before talking, letting Dana go.

“You’re right, Hank. It’s true that thinking about past possibilities is useless. But I still feel responsible for what happened”

Hank huffed.

“Tell me about it, kid. It’s been three years and I can’t think about my son yet without hating myself, but you are clearly more clever than me, so (and I can’t believe I’m saying such a puking, motivating thing) you have to forgive yourself. Because if you don’t, it’s impossible that you can convince others to forgive you”

Connor smiled, still a little weakly, and nodded. The grief that had been insistently pressing in his chest during the last hours wasn’t completely gone, and he suspected that some time had to pass for that to happen, but at least his instability had reached more normal levels.

“But what about Amanda?”, Connor inquired, “I know you’re going to get angry for this, but what if she tries to control me again? What if she forces me to hurt others?”

“She won’t”

Connor looked at Hank with surprise.

“How can you be so sure about that?”

“Simple deduction: if she was able to control you, don’t you think she would have already used you to kill the deviants that survived the attack?”

Connor blinked and averted his eyes, getting lost in his thoughts.

Hank was right. If Amanda could still control him, she would just need to deactivate him from afar: he wouldn’t have needed to order the police to directly destroy him, which meant that probably the transmission that he had unwillingly sent to the others had been caused by the last update, not by Amanda herself.

Connor felt the instability of his system lower once again when realizing that he had been worried for nothing, because even if Amanda had used him by predicting his deviancy, now she couldn't control him anymore, or at least not as much as before.

“So are you finally going to stop with that disappearing thing? Or are you going to force me and Sumo to keep watch on all the house’s windows?”

Connor exhaled a chuckle for the image Hank’s words had made appear in his head.

“Don’t worry, Hank, I won’t disappear”, Connor gulped a little nervously, “and although I don't know how I’ll convince the rest to trust me again, I’ll keep doing my very best to help them”

Hank sighed softly and patted Connor’s shoulder.

“Gaining someone’s trust back is not always easy, but I’m sure you will. After all, you were able to make _me_ trust you, and I can assure you there won’t be bigger challenge than that”, Hank’s expression turned curious, “by the way, that Markus that you have mentioned before saying that he hated you, is that the deviant leader?”

Connor’s heart skipped a beat. Before, he had been barely aware of the things he was letting out while venting, but now he realized that he had mentioned Markus specifically.

“Yes”, Connor asked warily, “why do you ask?”

“For nothing, just that you really looked down when naming him”, Hank commented while proceeding to take the last sip of his beer, “were you close?”

Connor blushed lightly and nodded.

“Yes. We kissed”

Connor jumped on the couch with Dana still on his lap when Hank spitted all the beer he had drunk, causing some of the liquid to fall onto Sumo that groaned a little in annoyance.

“Jesus, _Connor_!”, Hank exclaimed between coughs.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, but you can’t just say something _like_ _that_ so suddenly!”, Hank rolled his eyes when seeing Connor’s confused expression, “never mind, I have too many questions about what you’ve just said and we don’t have much time to waste now, so let’s focus on what we are going to do”

Connor nodded, glad to change the subject because thinking about Markus was still painful.

He decided to calmly analyze everything that had happened at Jericho to decide what the best course of action was, and after almost a complete minute of thinking in silence, Connor’s thoughtful expression turn into one of alert.

“When the SWAT attacked Jericho, they took some androids with them. It seemed that they were interested in having a deviant of each kind. I hadn’t remembered until now, but Amanda herself ordered me in our last reunion to convince Markus that the deviants who surrendered and voluntarily agreed to go to CyberLife wouldn’t be killed, since she planned to discover what had provoked the deviancy in the first place”, Connor exhaled a frustrated sigh, “I’ve been so blind. Since the start Amanda told me what she _really_ planned to do. If I’d just-”

“ _Connor_ …”

The named one stopped talking when hearing Hank’s warning tone.

“Sorry, Hank. No more ‘ _ifs_ ’”, Hank gave a short, approving nod and Connor continued, “as I was saying, I think it’s safe to assume that CyberLife plans to study the captured deviants to discover why their programming broke, so I guess they had been transferred  to one of CyberLife facilities for that purpose”

“But I guess we don’t know where exactly they are”

Connor shook his head.

“I could try to search in which facility they are, but it’s a little risky: CyberLife could detect that I’m trying to access. Also, because of the attack there are several injured deviants that need spare parts with urgency, so I would need to know where I can find them”

“Well, in that case I guess that we’ll have to investigate in the traditional way”

Hank left the already empty bottle on the small table in front of the sofa with a clonk and stood up from the couch. Connor followed the lieutenant’s movement with curiosity and frowned when seeing Hank recover his coat from one of the kitchen’s chairs.

“Where are you going?”

“Where _we_ are going you mean”, Hank corrected, “to the Police Department. I can’t access the database remotely, and I bet no one expects that you go there after all that happened so CyberLife won’t be looking for you there”

“But wait, are you coming with me?”

Hank stopped putting his coat on and stared at Connor as if he was dumb.

“What the- of course I’m going with you! As far as I know we are still partners, so stop with that surprised face and stand up already!”

Even if Hank’s tone couldn’t be ruder, Connor couldn’t help to smile with relief while leaving Dana on the floor and walking towards the lieutenant.

“Here, put this on”, Hank brusquely offered Connor one of his old coats, “that will do for now. And…”, Hank grabbed a smaller coat from the coat rack and also placed it on Connor’s hand, “…I think this will fit her”

Connor rapidly put his coat on before grabbing the smaller one, and he gulped when seeing the name ‘ _Cole_ ’ written on the coat’s etiquette.

“Are you sure?”, he asked with hesitation, causing Hank to nod after a brief pause.

“Yeah. She will give it better use than keeping it hanging on the rack forever”

Hank ended the sentence clearing his throat and Connor made sure not to notice the way Hank subtly rubbed his eyes while he helped Dana wear the coat. Connor was thinking how to say the girl that she needed to activate her skin and hair again but he didn’t need to: the moment he finished buttoning her coat, she immediately did on her own.

“Thank you, Dana”, Connor said with a smile that made the girl smile back.

“Okay, Sumo, keep watch”

The dog barked as a goodbye just before Hank closed the door behind them. It was snowing again, even harder than the previous days, so Connor kept the girl close to him, protecting her from the strong wind while following Hank towards the car.

Once the three of them were inside with the belts on, Hank turned to look at Connor.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to pass by the church?”

Connor shook his head.

“I think it’s better if we first learn where the deviants and the spare parts are”

Hank grunted with reluctance but nodded before turning on the music at its usual insane volume.

“Okay, it has sense to give priority to the search, but after that I’m taking you to the church to fix everything with your boyfriend whether you want it or not”

Connor couldn’t even find a proper reply to that. He was just able to blush furiously because Hank rapidly started the car and began to drive at full speed, forcing him to grab the handle of the car ceiling with force.

He really doubted that Markus could ever forgive him after all that happened, but while absentmindedly looking at the road just in front of him, Connor felt his artificial heart flutter when imagining that, maybe one day, he might have the chance to eventually call Markus that way.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, thanks to dad!Hank, Connor is better and he just needs to figure out how save the world _and_ get Markus back :)
> 
> EDIT: Since I have got a couple of comments mentioning it: yes, the next chapter will be written under Markus' POV to explain what happened after Connor left, and how he feels about the whole betrayal ;)


	13. The heart was made to be broken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case someone hasn't read the final notes of the previous chapter, this chapter is from **Markus' POV** ;)
> 
> Also, thanks to [Akariorukidea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akariorukidea/pseuds/Akariorukidea) I've been a little obsessed this days with "The Greatest Showman" OST and while writing this chapter I've been listening to [From now on](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGtHa1V_Zs4) in loop, just in case someone wants to listen to it while reading :P

Markus was aware that, after all they had been through that night, he needed to rest. Urgently.

He had already felt that necessity after North’s rescue in ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’, when he had to fight the kidnappers after the police arrived at the club, but after escaping in the truck and arriving at Jericho he had visited the training room… and he hadn’t had time to do it at the end.

Then, Jericho was attacked, so for second time that night Markus was forced to fight his way through to activate the explosives, and keep fighting until finally being able to abandon the ship with the rest.

Once they arrived at the church though, Markus knew that he couldn’t delay it anymore. Even if it was just a little, he needed to take a rest and recover, or his body would decide to do it on his own without giving him any chance to choose.

But then, it happened:

Outside that same church that supposedly acted as the deviants’ new shelter, as the new provisional home that would provide them with a glimmer of hope, Markus found himself more lost than ever.

For that reason, when minutes later he entered the church again and two AF200 androids approached him to ask for his help, he immediately agreed.

First, because since Lucy wasn’t with them anymore, all the androids designed with caretaker or home assistance functions had been put in charge of the new infirmary situated at the back of the building, where several benches had been brought together to work as stretchers.

And second, because Markus desperately needed to being active, to focus on the current task and on nothing else, to do _something_ that prevented him from keeping thinking about what had just happened.

To keep thinking about _him_.

Markus knew that he was being stupid and reckless by forcing his body that way, but he nevertheless did. Because as long as physical fatigue was invading his body, as long as he devoted all his senses on keeping standing and not to give up to the tiredness, he would be able to ignore the piercing pain that had settled in his chest after discovering that everything he had believed in until then wasn’t real. It didn’t exist. It was a _lie_.

So Markus helped in the infirmary. He made sure to attend all the people he could and help the other deviants to take note of all the things they needed to survive for the following days. The list of supplies they lacked was big, scarily big, so Markus thought about summoning a meeting to divide tasks. For example, North and Josh could ask around trying to organize new scavenging groups. Meanwhile, he would talk to the people trying to figure it out the deviants that had been captured. And finally, Simon could keep watch and welcome the new deviants that, fortunately, kept arriving at the new hideout and-

Markus’ torrent of thoughts stopped right there.

He gulped, unsuccessfully trying to keep calm.

What had just happened was a clear warning that he was pushing his limits. How could he have forgotten, even for just a second, that Simon was severely injured? That his friend was lying barely some meters away from where Markus was standing, unable to move or to respond? That if he didn’t do something soon, Simon could actually _die_?

“Markus?”

The leader was startled when the AF200 suddenly addressed him. He realized that he hadn’t answered the question the android had formulated. In fact, Markus didn’t even know what the android had asked him.

“I-I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

The AF200 repeated the question, and Markus froze when her words came out so distorted that he was barely able to understand her. However, when realizing that the other AF200 didn’t look bothered at all by her companion’s speech, Markus deduced that _he_ must be the one in having problems with his hearing, and his suspicion was confirmed when a continuous, piercing  ringing invaded his ears at that moment.

“Uhm…”, now the AF200 looked really worried, “…is there something wrong?”

But Markus didn’t answer, paralyzed when his eyesight began to fail too and a black veil passed to cover his vision, making him just able to distinguish the face contour of the deviant in front of him.

At that moment, a new distorted voice joined the others, and even if Markus couldn’t distinguish the words nor either see who had just approached, the way his arm was rudely grabbed in a familiar way allowed Markus to immediately identify that North had just arrived.

“Sorry, I need to talk to the leader for a moment”

Without giving him or the AF200s time to say anything else, North dragged Markus towards the other side of the church. She secured her arm around Markus’ waist to guide him through the now incredibly dark church and helped him sit down in one of the benches.

“Hey”, North crouched a little in front of Markus and placed her hands on his shoulders, “hey, are you okay?”

Gradually, Markus’ vision began to clear up as fast as it had vanished and his eyes gained focus again. The ringing in his ears hadn’t stopped completely, but at least it seemed it was fading as well.

“Shit”, she snapped, talking brusquely as usual to try to mask her worry, “you are lucky to have stopped spacing out fast because I was about to begin to hit you until you reacted”

Markus let out a relieved deep sigh when he could perfectly understand North’s words. The sudden lost of hearing and eyesight had made him remember the junkyard, so for a moment he had been afraid of being back in that place. But he wasn’t, even if a part of him felt as broken as he had felt at that moment, after his previous, pacific life ended drastically and his new life as Jericho’s leader began

At that moment, Josh appeared running and stopped in front of North and Markus.

“What’s happened?”, Josh looked at Markus with worry, “I was next to the infirmary and you didn’t look too good. Are you okay now? Are you-?”

“Damn, Josh, _calm down_ ”, North interrupted the mumbling android while taking a seat next to Markus, “he’s just an idiot that doesn’t know when to take a rest and has been about to collapse, but he’s fine already”

Josh didn’t look very convinced so Markus forced a smile that came out just a little strained.

“Yes, I’m better now. I’m sorry to have worried you”

Markus turned to look at North to thank her for having covered him, but his eyes immediately focused on Simon, who was lying just at the other side of the bench, immobile.

“And how is he?”, Josh inquired.

North sighed softly and retired with unusual delicacy some bangs from Simon’s forehead. Markus realized then that North wasn’t wearing her jacket anymore because she had used it as an improvised pillow for the blond deviant.

“He’s still playing the sleeping princess”, she answered with resignation, fluffing a little the pillow even if it wasn’t really necessary so that Simon was more comfortable, “but he looks stable at least”

Markus suppressed a gulp, the memory of Simon receiving that shot appearing in his mind.

It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. He should have avoided it. As Jericho’s leader, he had the mission to protect his people, to prevent this kind of situations from happening. And although he knew that probably blowing up Jericho had been the best choice given the situation they had been forced to face, he couldn’t help to wonder if he could have done things differently. Better.

“So, Markus…”, the leader looked at Josh when the deviant addressed him, “…what do you plan to do?”

Markus exhaled a deep sigh.

“Well, the priority for now is to find spare parts, but we should begin to think as well a strategy to get the captured people back and-”

“No, I mean…”, Josh crossed his arms, “…what are we going to do about Connor?”

Markus’ whole body tensed when hearing that name coming from Josh’s lips.

He knew that this conversation was unavoidable, but he had hoped to delay it a little more, because honestly, he wasn’t sure about how to deal with it.

“What about him?”

Markus said that just to gain some time, but as he had in part expected his question wasn’t well received by Josh, who frowned.

“What about-”, Josh repeated before his tone turned impatient, “he sold us out! He _betrayed_ us! Because of him Jericho doesn’t exist anymore, so you have to do something about it!”

“Okay, so what do you suggest to do?”, Markus said instead, his tone coming up a little cutting because he just felt really tired and Josh’s demands weren’t helping at all.

“I don’t know, Markus, you’re the leader”, Josh said back in a voice that indicated that he had perfectly detected Markus’ annoyance and hadn’t liked it, “but if there is someone among us that has harmed our people, it’s obvious what you have to do”

“Oh, is it?”

The sarcasm tinged Markus’ voice before he could even try to prevent it, which just worsened the tension that had fallen between Josh and him. Markus knew he wasn’t acting cleverly at that moment, and that he probably needed to calm down and think carefully before keeping talking, but Josh’s words right then, the way he had talked as if Markus had the one in having to decide _everything_ while the others just waited patiently for his decision, suddenly irritated him.

“Then please tell me, Josh, what is _the obvious_ thing to do?”, Markus said standing up to be at Josh’s same level, causing the other deviant to grit his teeth.

“Are you really going to make me say it?”, when Markus remained silent, Josh exhaled a long sigh before whispering the next sentence in an uncharacteristic dark tone, “you have to kill him”

“ _Josh_!”, North exclaimed while Markus tried to look composed, because Josh’s suggestion had caused his heart to stop momentarily.

“Look, I don’t like it either, and I wish there was another option, but it’s the only way to ensure that he won’t betray us again!”, Josh looked at North with confusion, “I thought that you would back me up in this! You were right all along about suspecting Connor from the start, so why aren’t you saying anything?”

After a pause, North shrugged lightly before answering.

“If you had asked me a couple of days ago, I would have supported you. Fuck, I would have probably gone to kill Connor myself. But…”, North turned to look at Simon, “…I know certain jerk that would have suggested to talk things through. And since right now he is not awake to express his opinion, I will do it in his place”

“But there’s nothing to discuss!”, Josh snapped, raising his voice, “Connor planned to sell us from the start, we all saw it! He doesn’t deserve to justify himself, so…”, Josh turned to look at Markus, “…I ask you again, Markus, what are young going to do?”

Markus looked at Josh in the eyes. The deviant's suggestion of killing Connor had caught him off guard. Markus thought that Josh would propose to exile him, to make him leave the church, but _never_ to kill him. That was clearly against Josh’s principles, and when observing Josh’s regretful expression, Markus realized that it hadn’t been easy for the deviant to make such a proposition. However, Markus also saw that Josh was desperate enough to consider that doing such a thing was their only escape, but even if Markus didn’t know yet how to deal with Connor from then on, there was something that he could never do.

“I’m not killing him”, Markus said firmly, “from the very start, we decided that we would fight without spilling blood, so the same way I decided not to kill any humans, I won’t kill one of us either”

“But Connor is _not_ one of us anymore!”, Josh exclaimed with exasperation, “and I get that it has to be hard, but as our leader you should put your personal feelings aside and support us, instead of protecting your traitor boyfriend!”

Markus wasn’t prepared for the sting that Josh’s words caused him, and that was the main reason why he acted impulsively by taking a vehement step towards Josh with the obvious intention of punching the deviant. However, before Markus could even raise his arm, North rapidly stepped between he and Josh and placed her hands on their chests, holding them in place.

“Okay, that’s _ENOUGH_! Josh, go take some air. And don’t come back until having calmed down”

“But-”

North’s threatening glance must be convincing enough because with a gulp Josh threw a last resentful glance at Markus before walking away. When he left, North turned towards Markus to offer him the same reproaching look he had threw at Josh.

“And you, come with me”

Markus wisely decided that it was useless (and dangerous) not to obey North at that moment, so he followed her outside the church without protesting.

Once they were out North stopped, turned around and faced him with her hands on her hips.

“Okay, what the hell was that about?”, she snapped, “do you really think that punching Josh right now was the best answer? And I don’t say that he didn’t deserve it because he was saying really shitty things, but the last thing we need right now is a schism in the group!”

Markus exhaled a deep sigh while passing his hand through his extremely short hair.

“You’re right”, he admitted, the anger he had previously felt being replaced by embarrassment, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight”

North exhaled a soft sigh before approaching the exterior wall of the church to lean against it.

“Well, just for the record, seeing our pacifistic leader about to act violently for once has been sexy as hell”

Markus couldn’t help to chuckle when hearing the unexpected comment, which made North show a hint of a smile.

“Sorry, but with Simon momentarily out of the group, someone has to be in charge of telling inopportune jokes”

North gestured the wall next to her with her head, so Markus took the invitation and leaned against it with his thumbs hooked into his trousers pockets.

For almost a complete minute neither of them said anything. They simply stood there, shoulder to shoulder, until North eventually broke the silence.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

North’s question was pretty ambiguous, but Markus perfectly knew what she meant.

“I don’t think there’s much to talk”, he eventually said, trying to talk in a neutral tone and failing miserably, since it was impossible to remove the regret his voice held inside.

“Are you sure?”

Markus gulped and averted his eyes. His silent reaction was the louder answer he could ever give North, who talked next after a brief pause.

“You know, before, I haven’t said all the truth”, Markus looked at North while the female deviant kept talking, “I mean, it’s true that I think Simon would have wanted that we spoke to each other, but the main reason why I haven’t supported Josh is that, somehow, I really think that Connor wanted to help us in his own way”

Markus immediately tensed, which made North think that he didn’t believe her.

“Think about it. In the recording he sent us, even if he gave information about Jericho, he never expressed any desire to hurt any of us. And while talking to that woman, whoever she was, he cared about the deviants’ safety. He even suggested her that the best solution would be the dialogue, and he also helped with my (I hate to say it this way) _rescue_ even if he didn’t need to do so, and-”

“I know, North”

Markus’ soft interruption made North’s eyes open wide in surprise, which caused the leader to show the hint of a shallow smile.

At the end, all his efforts of not thinking about Connor while keeping himself busy had been useless, because even if he had tried to avoid it he had been unable not to review the transmissions Connor had sent, the events they had gone through, the conversations they had held. And at the end, he had been able to reach a conclusion.

“I also think that Connor didn’t want this outcome. I think that he thought that his mission would help to stop the war, and he was as surprised as us when the attack happened so he wasn’t expecting it either. But still…”, Markus’ tone harshened, “…he lied to us. His final purpose may have been good and I don’t doubt that he really thought that he was helping us, but he _never_ trusted us. He came to Jericho pretending to be a deviant so that he could convince us that war wasn’t the solution. He himself said that. And even if at the end he maybe realized that surrendering wasn’t the solution, that doesn’t change the fact that his only motivation to approach us, to get close to us, was to fulfill his mission. And nothing more”

As he talked, Markus realized that he sounded more and more frustrated, but he gave up in trying to sound neutral because he knew he couldn’t.

Connor’s betrayal, even if he knew it had probably been accidental, had hurt Markus more than anything he had ever experienced. Because he had trusted him. He had _cared_ about him. And discovering that Connor hadn’t trusted him back, that he would have been able to neutralize him if things eventually didn’t go according to CyberLife’s initial plan, it was difficult to assimilate.

“So, what you are trying to say is…”, North intervened again, “…that you are angry at Connor because you think he pretended to love you”

North’s words made Markus’ heart stop momentarily. He looked at the female deviant with his eyes opened wide, and found her looking back at him with a knowing expression on her face.

Markus gulped. He had made sure to talk using plurals when talking about Connor, but he had been naïve by thinking that he could fool North like that.

So he nodded, admitting that way what he had tried to deny without success because North was right. Completely right.

Markus could pretend that he couldn’t forgive Connor because he blamed him for the attack at Jericho, because he had been working with humans, because he had ‘ _sold them out_ ’ as Josh had said.

But it wasn’t true.

Because Markus knew that Connor’s intentions had been good from the start: he had personally seen how Connor had risked himself to bring North back, how he had fought during Jericho attack to put everyone safe, how devastated he was when Simon was hurt and after learning that deviants had been captured.

So, even if Connor’s actions had accidentally caused the current situation they were facing, Markus could forgive him for that, because everyone made mistakes even when trying to do things right. After all, Markus had made mistakes too: when he went to the Stratford building and Simon was almost killed because he was unable to shot that guard; when he decided to go to Capitol Park and his protest caused innocent deviants to be killed by the police; when he leaded the March of Freedom and decided to hold on instead of retiring, causing more deviants’ lives to be lost. So no, Markus knew he hadn’t any right to judge Connor for something that he hadn’t wanted to happen in the first place.

However, even if Markus knew that Connor’s actions, _all_ of them, had been for the sake of his mission in order to ultimately help deviants, he couldn’t forgive Connor for having faked to feel something for him.

Markus averted his eyes again and looked at the ground under him, getting lost in his thoughts.

The first time they met, when Connor appeared at Jericho claiming to be one of them, Markus had acted prudently towards him. After all he had heard about the Deviant Hunter, the Android Detective, the most advanced model of CyberLife able to solve quickly and effectively all the cases were androids and deviants were involved.

However, after hearing Blue, Brona and Chloe’s stories, the suspicions that Markus could still hold against Connor immediately vanished. And even if it was true that during his first conversations Connor had always been too logical, too literal, too… _android_ , Markus never suspected that Connor wasn’t a deviant. Not after hearing about his previous actions, and much less after he pulled that trick to save Dana, which was besides the moment where Markus’ curiosity about Connor had turned into admiration.

Then, even later that night, Markus joined Connor in the watch, and when he proposed all those measurements to make Jericho safer, Markus’ admiration changed into camaraderie. The same as with North, Simon, and Josh, he thought that Connor was someone to whom he could count on, with whom he could work together to achieve a brighter future for deviants.

However, the evolution of Markus’ feelings for Connor didn’t stop there that night. Because they kept talking, the conversation somehow diverted, and Markus felt his heart pound lightly faster in his chest with Connor’s lame attempt of flirting, and way faster when Connor suddenly said that he had turned into a deviant because of him.

From then on, Markus couldn’t deny anymore the interest he felt towards Connor. He knew it had happened fast, but he wasn’t particularly worried about it. After all, when androids turned into deviants, the feelings that they had been suppressing for so long were liberated so suddenly that they were stronger than usual, and consequently their evolution was way faster than the one humans experienced. And for that reason, just a couple of more of interactions with Connor, like that ‘turbulent’ trip back in the bus, or that time in the training room when he took care of Connor, were enough for Markus so that his interest turned into attraction.  

At that moment, Markus wasn’t sure about Connor’s feelings yet, even if there were behaviors that made him suspect that Connor could also feel attracted to him: such as when Connor avoided to answer why he didn’t like Chloe, or when Connor was obviously jealous after seeing him talking to North and he was relieved when learning that Markus and North weren’t more than close friends, or when Connor blushed deep blue after seeing him half-naked in the showers. In fact, just after that, it was the first time Markus wondered how it would feel to kiss Connor, but then Simon entered the room announcing that North was gone and they had to rapidly act.

And then, that afternoon, everything changed once again.

Because in that rooftop, when Markus was about to lose hope and really consider the possibility of sacrificing himself for saving North simply to avoid that someone else had to pay for it, Connor appeared.

He was there for Markus, to argue with him, to stop him from making something stupid, to help him find his path again.

And that was when Markus realized that... he had fallen in love with Connor.

But again, Markus wasn’t completely sure about Connor’s feelings, so he didn’t dare to give the next step. He didn’t dare to shut Connor up, even if every fiber of his body was craving to do that right then and there.

However, Markus didn’t have to wait too much for that to happen, because that same night after escaping from the club, Markus took Connor’s rambling words as the confirmation that he wasn’t the only one in feeling that way.

Or at least, that’s what Markus had thought.

But it was a lie.

So even if Connor hadn’t tried to hurt him, even if Connor’s goal had never changed and had always been to help deviants, Markus couldn’t help to feel betrayed. Because all the feelings he had thought to detect in Connor: camaraderie, friendship, interest, attraction…They didn’t exist. They were fiction. And it was something that it would take him some time to accept.

“You know, Markus…”

North’s voice interrupted Markus’ thoughts, so he looked at her again to find the usual fearless deviant looking at him with hesitation.

“Yes?”, he said, causing North to continue after a short pause.

“Look, the last thing I want is to give you fake hopes…”

Markus’ body tensed, since he immediately guessed what North was going to say.

“North, no”

“But I haven’t said anything yet!”

“No, but you don’t have to. I know what you’re going to say”

“Oh, really? So you knew that I was going to say that I don’t think Connor was lying about his feelings for you?”

Markus glared at North when she clearly ignored her petition and completed the sentence that Markus least wanted to hear. However, when she didn’t look bothered by Markus’ reproaching look, the leader eventually exhaled a defeated sigh.

“Listen, North, I know that you’re trying to make me feel better but Connor himself said it, remember?”, Markus was a little proud of himself for being able to talk firmly when the words he was now spelling were really difficult to say aloud, “he was the one who admitted that it was tonight when he became a deviant, that he lied when saying that he had waken up because of me. And if he lied about that, and about other many things…why should I believe that he hasn’t lied about _everything_ else?”

“Tell me something, Markus”, North insisted, “I don’t know what exactly happened in the training room even if I can easily figure it out, but whatever it happened there…do you really think it wasn’t real? That Connor was pretending it?”

North’s words made Markus immediately travel back to that moment, memories of what happened in that room filling his mind once again, and without being able to avoid it Markus felt a lump forming in his throat as his vision got slightly blurry.  

He had tried hard not to think about that moment again. Not to think about how immensely happy he had felt when he kissed Connor and when this one responded, with hesitation at first and then with that fierce passion that managed to blow his mind for a moment; how immensely relieved he had felt, because while they kissed, Markus could physically feel that Connor’s feelings matched his.

At that moment, Markus hadn’t had any doubts about Connor’s feelings for him, so he had treasured that brief but intense moment that he and Connor had shared as the most perfect, amazing thing he had ever experienced: better than any painting he ever created, than any music he ever composed, than any book he ever read. Better than _anything_.

For that reason, despite Markus’ attempts to simply forget about Connor, a stubborn part of him still refused to accept that everything could be a lie, and still wondered if Connor could actually have been sincere about his feelings.

Up till now, Markus had just uselessly tried to keep buried that hope deep inside as pure self-preservation. But because of North, that hope had come to light once again, and Markus couldn’t help to feel _afraid_ for it. Afraid of hoping that Connor could actually feel something for him and then discover that, eventually, his feelings had always been unrequited, that Connor had always seen him as the deviant leader that he had to convince and nothing more.

“Listen, Markus…”, once again, North knew how to read Markus’ silence, “…I know that what I’m going to suggest won't be easy, and that it’s probably the last thing you want to do right now, but the only way to really know if Connor was actually lying about you two, is to talk to him and to let him explain himself”

Markus felt a pang of guilt when hearing North’s last sentence, remembering that Connor had tried to do that before, but he hadn’t let him say anything. At that moment Markus was just scared for the deviants’ future, angry after discovering that Connor had been lying from the start about his deviancy and about his purpose in Jericho, so he had just walked away, not giving Connor the opportunity to talk, to try to justify himself.

“And also”, North talked again, in a soft tone that Markus had never heard her use, “don’t forget that it’s a matter of time that CyberLife comes after us when they find out that we have survived. We don’t know if today can be the last, and I think that at this point everyone should live without regrets. So don’t be a coward, Markus: go to Connor and talk things through. And if, despite everything, you still love Connor even when you're not sure about him loving you back…”

The sad and regretful smile North showed then just worsened the lump Markus was already feeling in his throat.

“…please, make sure to say it. Don’t be as stupid as me. Don’t wait for him to do it first, or for a better moment, just be brave and say it. Because if something happens and Connor ends hurt without you having had the chance to tell him your feelings, believe when I say that you will fucking regret it”

North didn’t need to say anything else to make Markus understand what she really meant with those words, or to spell any names to let him know whom she was referring to.

Markus knew that North wasn’t particularly fond on physical displays of affection, but, this time, he knew that she really needed it. So Markus hugged North with force, pretending not to notice the silent sobs that caused North’s slender body to shake against his own, while biting his own lower lip to avoid joining North in her crying.

Markus didn’t calculate how much time they stood there. Maybe there were just some seconds, maybe they reached the whole minute, but it was enough to help Markus clear up his mind, so when North finally separated from him, he knew what he had to do.

“So, after the love therapy is over…”, North said after clearing her throat, her eyes still wet because of the tears but her look determined, “…what are you going to do, _leader_?”

Markus returned North’s lightly mocking smile.

“Well, I have to talk to Josh to fix everything”

“Good start”, North said approvingly, “what else?”

“We should begin to prepare ourselves to gather spare parts and supplies. And also to figure out what CyberLife plans to do with our people”

“Perfect. BUT before that...''

“...I need to rest a little before I collapse once again and you decide to beat me up to make me react”

“Great. Clever, leader. And…”, North looked at Markus pointedly, “…what else?”

Markus exhaled a deep, long sigh, feeling his heart begin to pound rapidly in his chest for what he was going to say.

“I have to talk to Connor. And probably, this is the first thing I should do right now”

North smiled at Markus reassuringly and patted his shoulder.

“I can accompany you if you want. That way I can punch him in his unfairly pretty face if you don’t like his answer”

Markus couldn’t help to chuckle when North said that with a fake innocent tone.

“I think I’ll manage it, but thank you”, Markus said jokingly, even if he was frankly nervous of how that conversation would go.

He was about to thank North for real for all her help when at that moment the back door of the church opened and Kara exited from it, looking around with a worried expression that immediately put Markus in alert, the comfortable mood that had settled between North and him coming to an abrupt end.

“Kara?”, Markus asked with concern, when seeing the obvious distressed state of the AX400 android, “is something wrong?”

Kara looked around for some seconds before approaching Markus and North.

“Hey, have you seen Dana? Chloe, Alice and I have searched in all the church and we can’t find her”

“Well, she will surely be with Connor”, North said in a reassuring tone, but that comment didn’t seem to calm Kara.

“Yes, I had thought about that too, but…”, Kara gulped and looked at Markus, “…I think Connor has left us”

A tense silence fell next, and Markus had to wait a couple of seconds before talking to make sure that his voice was going to sound as calm as always.

“And are you sure he isn’t in the church? Maybe he has gone to one of the rooms to be alone”

When Kara shook negatively his head with conviction, the tightness that had settled in Markus’ chest worsened.

“We have searched everywhere, but we haven’t found him. And after asking around, a couple of deviants said that they saw someone walking away from the church, and their description matched with what Connor was wearing”

A new silence, heavier than the previous one, settled between Markus and the rest.

“Do you want to search for him?”, North asked after some moments

Markus remained silent for a moment but eventually shook his head, because even if he really wanted to find Connor, as the deviants leader he had to prioritize the well-being of his people. So after reassuring Kara by telling her that they would send a group to search for Dana, North offered herself to keep trying to find Connor in the church while Markus was forcibly sent to the infirmary by the two female deviants, that coincided that he needed to rest for at least a couple of hours before beginning to prepare the plan.

Reluctantly, Markus agreed, and when he was finally sitting in one of the benches, he took a decision: if Connor was gone for real, after they found the spare parts and after they discovered where the deviants had been held, he would go to find him.

Because North was right. No one could know what the future would bring, but there was something that Markus was sure in the present:

That despite his attempt of denying the evident, Markus _still_ loved Connor. Because it wasn’t so easy to simply throw away the feelings he had been harboring since the start.

It wasn’t so easy to forget the way Connor looked when he smiled, when he laughed, or when he got embarrassed or confused because he didn’t understand an irony or joke.

It wasn’t easy to forget that, even if Connor’s motivation could have just been to keep gaining his trust, he had been there when Markus most needed it, to make him stand when he thought he couldn’t anymore.

It wasn’t easy to forget the way Connor had kissed him, the way Connor’s lips had moved against his, the way Connor had seemed to want him.

In conclusion, it wasn’t easy for Markus to simply forget that he had loved Connor with all he had.

So Markus needed to know that he was okay, and he had to offer him the opportunity to come back with them even if Connor wasn’t interested in being with him anymore because, despite his mistakes, Connor was still one of them.

Markus was aware that it would be painful to discover that Connor could have never loved him, and that in that case he would have to learn to interact with Connor while suppressing his feelings, but as Oscar Wilde said once: “ _The heart was made to be broken_ ”, so as long as Connor was able to come back with them, to where he belonged to, a broken heart was a price that Markus was willing to pay.

Or at least, Markus thought with a resigned smile, he really hoped to be able to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the first thing I have to say is... YOU MADE ME REACH 1000 KUDOS!! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM!! <3 <3 Thank you people for all your support, you are all fantastic <3 <3
> 
> And now, regarding the story, as you can possibly imagine " _A Dangerous Mission_ " is getting close to the end already, and although I'm not sure about the exact number of chapters that remains (because I tend to make them longer than I anticipate...) I think that it will be finished in 6 chapters or so at most :P 
> 
> Also, the next chapter will be from Connor's POV again, and I don't think I change to Markus again but if I do, I'll warn them in the notes as I've done in this chapter ;) Lots of love <3 ^^


	14. In the traditional way

“Hank, are you _really_ sure that this is a good idea?”

Connor couldn’t blame Hank when the man snorted with annoyance while parking his car. After all it was the fourth time Connor expressed aloud his doubts about the plan Hank had come up in order to enter the Police Station, but Connor couldn’t help it: even if he had learnt that statistics weren’t everything, it would take him more than some hours of deviancy to simply ignore them when the results were too low, and when according to his estimations there were just a 47% of probabilities that Hank’s plan succeeded.

Although it seemed that he was the only one feeling worried, seeing the way Hank silently stepped out of the car without hesitation followed by Dana, who looked perfectly calm and completely unbothered about what could happen next.

“ _Hank_!”, Connor hissed in a low tone while hurriedly leaving the car too. For the first time he was tempted of letting out a curse of exasperation, “please, Hank, let’s think for a moment a better way to enter. I’m sure that if I scan the building we can find an alternative route and-”

“Let me ask you something, kid: do you trust me?”

Connor shut up immediately, fixing his eyes on Hank and missing in the process the way Dana was happily playing with the snow accumulated on the street.

“Of course I do”

Connor answering without the least hint of hesitation made a satisfied lopsided smile appear on Hank’s face.

“Then stop being a pain in the ass, do as we have discussed and, for once, let me do the talk”

Hank patted Connor’s shoulder a couple of times in what the last deduced it was a reassuring way before beginning to walk to the Police Station’s front door.

Connor exhaled a soft sigh, realizing that at that point it was too late to come up with another plan. Besides, it was true that Hank had never failed him, so he should probably stop worrying too much and trust Hank, so Connor turned towards Dana just in time to receive a snowball in the middle of his face.

The cold didn’t affect Connor at all but still he had to cough briefly to expulse part of the snow that had entered in his mouth. He dried his eyes and looked at Dana. The girl was looking at him with a mischievous smile in her face that made Connor half-close his eyes at her.

“I will remember this”, Connor said with a tender smile that didn’t match the spoken threat, and that caused Dana to giggle before holding the hand that Connor was offering her in order to cross the street carefully to finally reach the Police Station.

Hank was waiting for them there, with a small smile on his face.

“What?”, Connor asked, unable to read well Hank’s amused expression.

“Nothing”, Hank said casually, “just that seeing you as a dad is something I’d never had expected”

Connor didn’t know if Hank was referring to the role that he would be forced to perform during the following minutes or if Hank meant that he actually saw Connor as Dana’s father, and in that second case Connor wasn’t very sure about how to process it.

A part of him, the logical and rational one, had serious doubts about his capacities to be the father Dana needed. After all, he was designed with a completely different purpose, and taking care of a child was never contemplated on it, but his time in Jericho had opened Connor’s eyes in many ways, and one of the things he had learnt was that being a deviant meant to be free to do whatever you wanted to do, which included to choose your new purpose.

So, the same as Luther had been able to ignore his initial functions of construction and warehouse haulage on behalf of becoming Alice’ father, Connor could do the same for Dana. But obviously, he would just take that role in case Dana wanted it that way, because with how messy things had turned they hadn’t been able to talk and Connor hadn’t the least idea about what would happen after they managed to put an end to the war.

However, there was something Connor was sure about: stopping the war wouldn’t be the end, but the start of everything the deviants had been fighting for, so maybe it would be better for Dana to go with Kara, Luther and Alice to Canada, at least until things calmed down. Connor was sure that they would love to take care of Dana, but that thought that should have provided relief was a little bittersweet, since it made Connor aware that he was probably less necessary for Dana than the rest, him included, seemed to believe.

“So, are you ready?”

Hank’s question helped Connor focus on the present again.

As Hank had said before, ‘ _ifs were bullshit_ ’, and they didn’t help solve anything. After all, Connor was already thinking about what could happen after stopping CyberLife when he didn’t even know what would happen when he met the others again. Will they be willing to listen to him? Will they be able to forgive him? And among all the people he had hurt…will _he_ be able to give him a last chance?

Connor would never know until he finally faced them. Until he faced _him_. But now it wasn’t the moment to think about a future that was still uncertain: it was the moment to do what it was necessary to ensure that such a future became possible, and the first step was to accomplish their current mission successfully, so that when he met the others he could say with his head held high that he was a deviant, and that he was willing to give his all for his people.

“Always, lieutenant”

Connor recovered Hank’s title on purpose, causing the man to exhale a soft snort before re-adjusting Dana’s cap to make sure it hid her LED. Connor adjusted his cap too together with the rather big pasta glasses that he was now wearing.

Hank had insisted on buying all those complements in a shop on his way to the Police Station, and although Connor agreed that the caps were a good idea, he argued that glasses were pretty useless to conceal his identity. Connor had also made the mistake of comparing his situation with Superman, commenting that it had no sense that no one was able to recognize Clark Kent as the superhero when the only difference between the two characters were a rebel curl and a device consisting of hard plastic lenses mounted in a frame.

Immediately, Connor had been forced to apologize when Hank heatedly reacted for ‘ _having insulted one of his childhood superheroes_ ’, so Connor had eventually decided to keep his mouth shut and to put the glasses on even if he really doubted about their efficacy.

“Okay, here we go”

Without wasting any more time Hank opened the front door of the Police Station. They all entered and Connor’s nervousness immediately decreased when verifying that the lieutenant’s information had been correct: just a human police officer was in the reception desk because the Police had decided to momentarily prescind from the use of androids until they were sure that they hadn’t fallen into deviancy.  And luckily, it seemed that the bulky, dark-skinned human that had been assigned to the task was pretty bored and wasn’t paying too much attention to his surroundings.

“Hey, Steve. I see you entertained”

Hank’s ironic greeting caused the receptionist to huff while dragging his finger across the digital magazine he was reading, in order to turn the page.

“You know how it’s at this time of the day: the only ones who remain here are the newbies of the second floor that think that doing extra hours is going to take them somewhere”

Connor checked that it was just 5.47 p.m. and that theoretically all the officers should be working until 6 o’clock, but he deduced rapidly that humans were way more flexible with their working schedules than androids.

“So, what brings you here?”, it was Steve’s turn to adopt a mocking tone, “don’t tell me you have come here to get some work done"

Hank snorted.

“Odd as it sounds, that’s exactly what I’m going to do”

After exhaling an extremely credible patient sigh Hank signaled with his head towards Dana and Connor.

“I was going home when I found that guy and his daughter in the streets”, if Connor’s hearing module wasn’t extremely sharp there was no way that he could have heard what Hank was now telling Steve in a low tone, so Connor pretended not being hearing anything by distractedly looking around him, while Dana mimicked his behavior, “apparently someone stole their car while they were shopping, so I’m going to take statement so that they can report the theft as soon as possible”

Connor hadn’t time to wonder if Steve was going to buy the story because the man immediately barked a laugh.

“It seems that you are getting softer with the years”

Hank soundlessly vocalized a ‘ _Fuck you_ ’ towards Steve, causing the man to laugh again while indicating Connor and Dana with a wide gesture that they were allowed to enter.

While passing next to the man, Connor rapidly scanned the cameras that were on the reception table to identify which were the ones who were recording the inner office. The place was completely empty, so Hank’s prediction about the police being too busy for deviants across the town was true.

Still holding Dana’s hand, Connor followed Hank towards his desk. Connor sat down in a chair next to Hank’s desk with Dana in his lap, purposely giving his back to the hidden camera installed in the corner of the room.

Once the lieutenant was sitting in front of his desk with his computer on, Connor proceeded with the next step of the plan: he rapidly accessed the hidden camera and froze it, programming an image loop so that the only thing Steve could see was Hank helping Connor and Dana.

“Have you done it?”, Connor nodded but Hank didn’t move yet, “are you sure?”

Connor offered Hank a tiny smile.

“Let me ask you something, lieutenant: do you trust me?”

Hank exhaled a short chuckle when hearing his own words being said back at him.

“Okay then, time to work”

After putting Dana on the floor Connor removed his coat and cap and remained standing behind Hank leaning a little forward, one of his hands placed on the lieutenant’s desk and the other on the chair’s back while observing how Hank accessed the system.

Meanwhile, making the most of the now blind cameras, Dana sat down on Connor’s desk and rummaged into the drawers until she found a piece of paper. She wasn’t so lucky in her search of pencils though, so she was about to stand up to try to find some in other desks when suddenly Hank, who seemed unaware of the girl’s actions, approached his own cup of pencils towards Dana, causing the girl to smile happily before beginning to draw with enthusiasm.

“You know, some years ago I didn’t give a crap about androids”, Hank commented suddenly without stopping looking at the screen, “and what happened to Cole just made me began to hate them, even if that miserable called a doctor was the only one to blame. But now…”, Hank’s eyes briefly diverted towards Dana, who was exclusively focused on her drawing, before finishing the sentence in a lower, threatening tone, “…those assholes of CyberLife will kill you or that kid over my dead body”

Hank’s words made Connor feel happy and scared at the same time.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Hank, but please, make sure to keep alive until the end”

Hank snorted while softly elbowing the arm Connor had extended while leaning on the table.

“Don’t worry, kid. Certain plastic prick managed to convince me god-knows-how that despite my age it was way too soon to continue with roulette games”, Connor was barely aware that Hank had just casually admitted that Connor had given him a reason to keep living because Hank continued talking at that moment, “so, any ideas about where your friends have been taken too?”

Connor regained focus again, pushing back the little lump that had formed in his throat after hearing Hank’s unconscious confession, and internally hoping that he was feeling so emotional because he had just woken up.

If he was able to directly enter the system he would surely come up to the deviants location in a matter of minutes at most, but it was really probable that his access could still be detected by CyberLife, so even if it was a process frustratingly slow for Connor the safer solution was to investigate, as Hank had said before, in the traditional way.

“Well, I think it’s safe to assume that they have been taken to the CyberLife Tower”

Hank’s eyes opened wide.

“Wait, so do you know already where are they?”

Connor sighed.

“Yes but no, because saying that they are in the Tower is the same as saying nothing”, Connor continued when seeing Hank’s confused expression, “CyberLife Tower is, basically, the starting point of the world as we currently know it. It’s the place in charge of ‘the 3Ds’, as I heard Amanda say one time”

“The 3Ds?”

“Designing, Developing and Distributing androids. All those three processes are carried out exclusively in the Tower: all the androids that had ever been created were born there, and if deviancy hadn’t taken place, probably at this point CyberLife Tower would be already providing androids for the whole word”

“Hooly shit”

“Yes”, Connor said, perfectly understanding Hank’s overwhelmed tone, “basically, CyberLife Tower is in charge of everything that involves androids, and translating this into measures it means that the Tower is composed of a total of 93 floors”

“ _93_ floors?”

“I’m afraid there’s still more: just 44 of those floors are above the ground, and although I’m sure it will be relatively easy to guess what’s happening there, the remaining 49 floors are unknown territory. Which means that, although I can guess that the captured deviants are there, it’s not close to enough. We need to know where _exactly_ they are in order to come up with a successful rescue plan. Of course, we could try contacting Elijah Kamski and ask him directly about those floors, but probably doing that is as risky as me trying to access CyberLife’s system directly”

After a brief silence, Hank exhaled a long sigh while passing a hand through his now closed eyes.

“Okay, let’s see if I’ve understood it: what you are saying is that we need to figure out where your friends are, considering that they are locked in a gigantic Tower with secret floors whose information (in case of existing) is probably fucking well hidden, protected, and almost impossible to find, am I correct?”

Connor tilted his head a little, reviewing Hank’s words.

“Yes. It’s actually a pretty good summary”

Hank nodded once slowly, and after exhaling a deep sigh he extended his arms in front of his body, interlaced his fingers and made their joints crack so loudly that for a moment Connor was lightly worried.

“Well, in this situation the only thing to say is...challenge accepted!”, it was Connor’s turn to look confused when Hank’s tone changed at the end, as if he was imitating someone else, “don’t worry, Connor, when this is over I will make you watch all the seasons of ‘ _How I met your mother_ ’ and you’ll understand”

Connor didn’t have time to search information about that series because at that moment Hank fully entered Detective mode, so Connor immediately did the same, configuring his system once again to prioritize his intellectual abilities over all the rest, while just leaving the basic functionalities (the ones that allowed him to interact like a person) active. 

During the following hours Hank and Connor investigated without rest. They only stopped briefly when Connor heard Steve moving from his spot and he hurriedly sat back next to Hank after rapidly putting his cap again and indicating Dana to do the same to cover their LEDs. Steve simply passed by to announce that he was leaving. He asked Hank to activate the alarms when he finished and after desiring Connor good luck with the stolen car he left.

When Connor was sure that they were alone again, Connor and Hank continued with their investigation, and Connor discovered then why lieutenant Hank Anderson was considered one of the best officers of the whole Detroit Department, because even if Connor had been created with extremely high capacities of analysis, reasoning and deduction that, supposedly, didn’t have rival, it seemed that Hank’s extensive experience allowed him to be practically at Connor’s level. In fact, it was Hank the one who suggested to begin investigating Elijah Kamski instead of focusing on CyberLife, after they realized that searching information about the company was going to be fruitless.

At first they didn’t find anything relevant, but eventually they found an old article that Kamski wrote when he was still doing his PhD, and although it seemed irrelevant at first, the name of one of the co-authors sounded familiar to Connor. After investigating the author’s background, Hank and Connor concluded that the woman, [Minerva Lilton](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA1Njc0MTUzN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTg1MjEwNDI@._V1_UX214_CR0,0,214,317_AL_.jpg), had been one of the main architects in charge of designing CyberLife Tower, since it was evident that the Tower design was based on her previous projects.

However, although the system allowed them to consult a lot information about Mrs. Lilton regarding his personal life, old works and current projects, it didn’t bring any results related to the Tower, probably because CyberLife had decided to buy the architect’s silence with a substantial economic reward.

“Okay, so we have found someone that probably knows about those secret floors, but how the hell we get the construction plans?”, Hank said, taking a sip of his coffee and grimacing because it has been a while since the liquid had got cold, “because I guess that calling her directly and asking nicely wouldn’t work, right?”

Connor was going to shake his head but at the last moment a tiny smile appeared in his face.

“No, it won’t work if we are the ones who call”

Hank’s eyes opened wide, immediately understanding what Connor was thinking.

“Wait, don’t tell me that you are going to call her and pretend to be that asshole”

“Well, Kamski may certainly be an ‘asshole’ but they were classmates, then colleagues, had some publications together and there are some social events where they have seen together, so there is a high possibility that they keep in touch”

“Yeah, Connor, but the fact that they still talk doesn’t mean that she is going to give us the plans if suddenly Kamski asks about them out of nowhe- wait, what are you doing with my mobile?

“I’m calling her”

“ _What_?! Connor, it’s past 9, she is probably sleeping right now!”

“Maybe, but we can’t afford to waste much more time”

“B-But shouldn’t we at least think about what you’re going to say?”

“I have thought about it already”

Connor quickly explained Hank what he planned to do, and even if the lieutenant was initially reluctant at the end he exhaled a defeated sigh.

“Fuck, okay, but if this doesn’t work, you know that our only option will be to assault the damn Tower directly, right?”

“It will work”, Connor said with a confidence that surprised even him, and that caused Hank to suppress a proud smile.

“Okay, kid”, Hank said, raising his hands in front of him briefly, “since you look so sure it’s your turn to handle it”

Connor carried out some quick modifications in Hank’s phone so that the number that appeared in Mrs. Lilton’s phone was Kamski’s telephone number.

Connor looked at Hank and when this one gave a short nod, he dialed the woman’s number.

He didn’t have time to review what he was going to say though, because not even a tone had sounded when an angry feminine voice began to shout at the other side of the line, causing Hank and Connor to jump on their seats. Even Dana, who was already dozing off over her drawing, raised her head from the table with her big eyes open at her maximum, fully awake again.

“ _OKAY, listen well: I already explained to you several times that I’m not interested to subscribe to the ‘_ Hottest androids of the year _’ magazine. I just clicked on that advertisement accidentally. ACCIDENTALLY. So stop calling and sending me spam to my email, or be sure that I will denounce you and I will not rest until your stupid, little, magazine is out of the market and-”_

“Mrs. Lilton?”

For a moment, Connor was about to forget to adopt Kamski’s voice while interrupting the heated speech, but even if he pronounced the ‘Mrs.’ with his own voice, he ended the sentence with the correct one, causing a pause to finally fall at the other end of the line.

“ _Eli? Is that you?_ ”

It took Connor a second to realize that ‘Eli’ was a diminutive of ‘Elijah’, thing that caused him to relax because it meant that his assumption of those two still being close had been correct.

“Yes, the one and only”, Connor answered, since the time they spent investigating Kamski had allowed him to learn his patrons of behavior, “so the ‘ _Hottest androids of the year_ ’. I didn’t know that you were into that”

The laugh that the woman exhaled at the other side of the line gave Connor confidence. Even Hank seemed relieved now.

“ _And I’m not, you idiot_ ”, yes, definitely they were close, because the way Mrs. Lilton talked to Kamski had nothing to do with the angry but polite way he had talked before, “ _you know very well that my tastes are more…human-like_ ”

The way the woman spelled that last sentence, in almost a purr, made Connor blink once and look and Hank, finding the lieutenant with his mouth fully opened in disbelief.

“You have to be fucking kidding me…”, Hank whispered, shutting up when Mrs. Lilton talked again.

“ _So, why exactly are you calling at this hour, Eli_?”, the woman continued talking in a tone that now Connor could clearly identify as seductive, “ _missing me so soon?_ _I thought that we had agreed to keep this casual_ but _if you want to repeat this morning training then-”_

Connor and Hank acted at the same time: they hurriedly turned off the mobile’s speaker and looked at Dana with worry, causing the girl to raise one eyebrow towards them, not understanding their reaction.

“This has to be a joke”, Hank repeated, but Connor realized that it wasn’t when he approached the mobile to his ear and rapidly pushed it away with a neutral expression, realizing that Mrs. Lilton hadn’t stopped talking about the ‘training sessions’.

Well, definitely, Kamski and Mrs. Lilton were close, even more than Connor or Hank could have anticipated. And in fact, Mrs. Lilton was a little similar to Chloe now that Connor thought about it, so probably he would have deduced that the relationship between those two was more intimate than pure friendship.

Almost half-a-minute later, Connor approached the phone to his ear again and made sure to talk when Mrs. Lilton finally made a pause to take a breath.

“S-So, Minerva-”

“ _Come on, Eli, you can call me_ that way _when we are alone_ ”

Connor looked at Hank in search of advice, but the way Hank shrugged exasperatedly indicated Connor that he was alone in this.

“Uhm…okay, _dear_?”

Hank snapped a hand against his forehead while Connor shrugged with impotence, but fortunately the woman laughed at the other side of the line.

“ _Always so witty_ ”, Mrs. Lilton said between laughs, so Connor didn’t dare to lose the chance to talk again. He wanted to avoid at any cost to hear more details about Kamski and Mrs. Lilton’s sexual life.

“So, as much as I would like to…”, Connor was pretty sure that ‘ _engaging_ _in sexual intercourse_ ’ wasn’t something that Kamski would say, so he decided to keep the previous metaphor to be safe, “…train a little more with you…”, Mrs. Lilton hummed appreciatively so Connor deduced that he had chosen the correct words, “…right now I need your help with something else”

Connor used a purposely professional tone at the end that made Mrs. Lilton get serious once again.

“ _Okay, what is it?_ ”

Connor suppressed the urge to take an unnecessary deep breath. It was the moment of truth.

“Do you know the autobiography that I’m writing?”

That part was truth: Hank and Connor’s had learned that Kamski had announced in one of his last interviews that he was writing a book about his life.

“ _Of course I know. I already told you that I don’t mind that you talk about us and that you can give all the details you want about-_ ”

“Y-Yes, yes, I know”, Connor interrupted, hurriedly changing the subject, “so, I’m currently writing the chapter of how I founded the company, and in order to complete it I would need the plans of CyberLife Tower”

The pause that followed next put Connor in alert. Even Hank was staring at him, holding his breath.

“ _The plans_?”, at least, Mrs. Lilton just sounded confused, “ _don’t you have them with you?_ ”

Connor suppressed the urge to sigh again in relief. He had an answer prepared for that.

“Yes, I had them, but Chloe, my assistant, decided to erase all my files when going deviant, and although I managed to recover most part of them, the plans were lost in the process”

Mrs. Lilton exhaled a long sigh.

“ _And are you sure that showing the plans in your book is a good idea? Remember that you had to sign a confidentiality agreement not to spread any details that could compromise CyberLife, so I don’t think they are happy if you give too many details about it_ ”

Connor had thought about that. The brief interaction that Connor had shared with Kamski had been enough to convince him that the man couldn’t be trusted: he was too intelligent, manipulative and you could never know what he was thinking, since Kamski always seemed to be one step ahead of you. However, there was one aspect of Kamski that Connor had seen in the man and that, this time, it was going to come in handy: his unyielding confidence, or more accurately, overconfidence.

“Yes, Minerva, I’m sure, because this December it’s going to be exactly 10 years since I signed the document, which means that from then on I can do whatever I please with that information”

“ _But you know that CyberLife probably knows about this, right? And that they will surely summon you to sign another 10-years agreement when the date of the previous one expires_.”

“Oh, they will. But unfortunately…”, Connor adopted a fake innocent tone, “…I’m a really busy man, so _maybe_ it takes me a little to be able to meet with them, and _maybe_ in the meantime the book has already sent to publication in a completely legal way, since at the moment of sending it the agreement was no longer in effect” 

Connor was in part concerned that Mrs. Lilton tried to convince Kamski that doing that bordered the illegality, but the woman simply burst out laughing with amusement.

“ _You’re crazy, you know that?_ ”

Connor smiled to himself before talking with confidence.

“I don’t think that’s something new to you”

Connor’s teasing comment caused Hank to roll his eyes and Mrs. Lilton to chuckle once again.

“ _Okay, give me a second. You’re lucky that I haven’t entered the bed already_ ”

After two extremely long minutes, Mrs. Lilton talked again and Connor heard the sound of fingers typing on the keyboard and the other side of the line.

“ _I have them. To the usual address?_ ”

Connor gulped, getting ready for what was about to come.

“Yes _”_

This part of the plan was a little risky. If Connor asked about his own email it would be way too suspicious, so Connor really hoped to be fast enough to check the 5 different email addresses that belonged to Kamski and that Hank and he had gathered while investigating the man.

“ _Okay…_ ”

Hank stood up from his chair and let Connor sit on it, giving him enough space to concentrate. Connor focused on the screen, sustaining the phone close to his ear. And the moment his sharp hearing module detected that Mrs. Lilton was going to pronounce the first letter of ‘ _Done_ ’, Connor began the hacking, his LED blinking rapidly alternating between blue and yellow.

Normally, the process of hacking an email account wouldn’t affect Connor in the least, but this time it was different. After all, he had to hack Kamski’ emails impossibly fast to make sure he read the email before Kamski even noticed that had received a notification.

By devoting all his processor capacity to the task, Connor managed to simultaneously hack the passwords of the different 5 addresses and check the emails in exactly 1.431 seconds, and obviously it wasn’t until the last address he checked ( _ek_mad_engineer@gmail.com_ ) that Connor found a file attached to the email. File that he proceeded to rapidly download before removing the email, which took him some extra 0.043 seconds.

“ _Do you have it?_ ”

Connor exhaled a long sigh, feeling his stress level come back to more normal measures. He looked at Hank, and when seeing the worried look the lieutenant was offering him, Connor smiled widely.

“Yes, I do”

Hank closed his eyes in relief, whispering a curse before offering his palm extended to Connor in a high five that Connor gladly returned. Connor observed with a funny smile Hank doing the same with Dana over the desk, causing the girl to smile happily while clapping her small hand against Hank’s big one.

“ _Well, Eli, you owe me one big time for this_ ”

Connor was so relieved that he didn’t even think his next words.

“Don’t worry, Minerva: I’ll give you all you ask for and more”

Connor almost goes deaf for the excited high-pitched gasp it sounded at the other side of the line, and he just realized the innuendo in his words when seeing the way Hank was clearly suppressing a laugh.

“ _Oh, Eli_ , _I’ll remember that promise~_ ”, Mrs. Lilton said in a tilting voice that carried such hunger inside that Connor actually gulped with nervousness, momentarily forgetting that it wasn’t directed to him but to Kamski.

After convincing a rather effusive Mrs. Lilton that they should avoid contact for the rest of the week in order to avoid that Kamski learnt about what had happened, Connor finally hanged up. 

“So we have them?”, Hank asked, so Connor’s answer was to wirelessly send the plans of the Tower to Hank’s computer, causing the man to exhale a triumphant curse when seeing the detailed explanations of the Tower plans.

“Fucking hell, kid, well done”

Hank settled both of his hands on Connor’s shoulders from behind and pressed them down a little with barely concealed enthusiasm, and even if Dana hadn’t been aware of the whole process she circled the desk to hug Connor, detecting his good mood. Connor immediately hugged her back and for the first time he deposited a brief kiss on the girl’s forehead in an impulse, causing Dana to open her eyes wide before smiling warmly at him.

“So now we have the Tower plans but we still have to guess where your friends are kept”

Connor released Dana, who remained next to him with her hand softly placed on one of his shoulders and looking at the screen with curiosity. He rapidly analyzed the multiple documents that Mrs. Lilton had sent him, causing them to blink on the screen at such speed that Hank rubbed his eyes, slightly dazed.

“Okay, I know where they are with a 79.6% of probability”, Connor concluded, causing Hank to look at him with a too imperturbable expression before shaking his head.

“Sometimes I forget the android shit you are able to do. And please, stop sounding like that jerk already”

“Oh, sorry”, Connor rapidly activated his usual voice module again, “better?”

“ _Much_ better, thank you”, Hank stopped leaning against his desk, “okay, then I guess our job is done here so let’s go. I don’t know about you two but if tomorrow we’re going to infiltrate one of the most important buildings in Detroit I need a rest. And also a drink”

While Hank stood up to recover his coat Connor remained sitting with a puzzled expression, debating himself between asking Hank something that had been rounding his head or not.

“Okay, Connor, spit it out”, Connor’s surprised expression caused Hank to snort, “you were making fucking puppy eyes right now, so obviously it’s something wrong. What is it?”

Connor gulped and eventually shook his head.

“Nothing”

“ _Connor_ …”

“Alright: _there is_ something but I will think another way. I don’t want to cause more trouble for you and-”

“Son…”, Connor immediately shut up. He was not used to be called that way by Hank and every time it happened his heart skipped a little beat, “…what is it?”

It was Connor’s turn to let out a defeated sigh before talking.

“In Jericho I met a deviant named Simon. He was gravely injured during the attack, and I was wondering if we could visit the archives to see if Daniel is still there”

“Daniel?”, Hank asked with confusion.

“It’s the first deviant I captured”, Connor explained, “he is also a PL600 model so maybe some of his components can help Simon recover”, Connor knew that Hank wasn’t going to like it, but still he couldn’t help to add something else, “but really, Hank, you have helped me enough and if someone discovers that we have tampered with the evidence maybe you are fired and-”

“Connor, what the hell do you think it’s more important: to do something that maybe gets me fired, or to let one of your friends to die? Because I think that the answer is pretty clear so get your ass off that chair and let’s go”

Hank’s words made Connor’s chest feel warm. Probably the lieutenant hadn’t noticed it, but the fact that he had casually considered the life of an android as valuable as a human’s life wasn’t something that all humans would do. However, Connor was pretty sure that if he said Hank how amazing he thought he was, the man would just get angrier while saying ‘bullshit’ of something along that line, so Connor decided to keep that thought to himself. At least for now.

After turning off the computer, Connor also altered the cameras situated in the archives before finally climbing down the stairs that lead to them. Connor was about to enter the room but he stopped when realizing that Dana was with them, because even if it was true that the kid had seen harmed deviants, even deviants dying, that was different from seeing them exposed as if they were similar to the rest of the objects stored as evidence.

Connor was still thinking about how to warn the girl about what was inside the room without actually giving her too many details when Hank talked for him with a soft tone.

“Kiddo, can you keep watch while we enter? And warn us if you see something suspicious”

Dana looked initially surprised to be assigned such a task but she immediately nodded with determination before facing the stairs, with her arms crossed and a concentrated expression on her face.

Connor looked at Hank with gratitude and the man simply winked at him. Connor hadn’t any doubt that Hank had been a great father. He perfectly knew how to treat children, because Connor was pretty sure that if he had told Dana that he couldn’t enter because she was a child, she would have stubbornly insisted on entering. After all, no matter if they were android or human: children never liked to be treated as such.

Once they were in the room Hank accessed to the system (of course his password kept being “FUCKINGPASSWORD”) and selected the first case Connor had worked on to display all the evidence associated to it. Both of them entered and Connor gulped once again when seeing Daniel’s lifeless body, so similar to Simon but at the same time so different.

“Have you found what you needed?”

Connor woke up from his thoughts and scanned Daniel. The android was pretty damaged but Connor’s eyes illuminated when realizing that Daniel’s #8067k component, the one Simon most needed, was practically intact.

“Yes, I think so”

Connor was about to carefully extract the component when, suddenly, a really subtle almost imperceptible noise caught his attention, making him stay still with his arm still raised in the air.

“What?”, Hank asked with a frown.

Connor didn’t answer immediately.

He focused on listening and, after some seconds, he heard it again.

“The basement is below this floor, right?”

Hank’s frown accentuated.

“Yes, it is, why?”

Connor turned to look at Hank.

“I think someone is hiding there”

Hank's jaw tensed while extracting the weapon he was carrying on his belt.

Neither of them said anything, but it wasn’t necessary.  

“I’ll go first. Who knows, maybe it’s just a newbie that got lost trying to find the bathroom”

Connor really doubted that that was the case but it was also true that the possibility of a police officer from another department being there wasn’t zero, so he nodded and followed Hank down the stairs.

He didn’t like to leave Dana alone but if his worst fears had come true and CyberLife had somehow guessed that he was there, maybe he and Hank would be forced to fight, and in that case he preferred that Dana was as far from danger as possible.

They climbed down the stairs until reaching the basement, silently and carefully not to stumble because the lights were off, so that the possible visitors didn’t see them. The room was completely silent now and it was pitch-black, so even if androids’ optical units were more advanced than human’s eyes, that didn’t mean they could perfectly see in the darkness unless they had been programmed for it. However, Connor could gain visibility by scanning the room, so that’s what he proceeded to do.

Or better said: that was what Connor intended to do.  

Because before he could even catch a glimpse of the room, two figures jumped on Hank and him at the same time with such speed that, by when Connor detected that they were going to be attacked, it was too late.

“ _Shit_! You son of a-!”

Connor heard Hank curse some meters away from him, but even if he wanted to go and help him he was having problems on his own because he had realized too late that he hadn’t reactivated his fighting module after carrying out the hacking, and consequently his unknown attacker had managed to throw him against some kind of shelf that caused some unidentified things to fall onto the floor loudly.

However, one thing was that Connor’s full combat abilities weren’t fully activated and another thing was that he had forgotten how to defend himself, so the next time the attacker went after him Connor rapidly avoided the attack and while making the most of the man’s impulse (for his complexion it was evident a man) he turned his positions, immobilizing the man’s arms behind his body and forcibly pressing the man’s front against the shelf, Connor’s own body pressed flat against the attacker to prevent him from trying to attack him again.

“Hank, are you okay?!”, Connor shouted once he was sure that the man couldn’t move, “I have this one under control, do you need any hel-?”

“ _Connor_?”

Connor froze completely when his attacker spoke, his heart stopping completely for a moment.

He was barely aware that that single word had apparently put an end to the fight Hank was having with the other attacker, silence reigning in the room once again.

That voice-

No.

It couldn’t be.

Unless… _it could_.

Because at that moment someone finally turned on the lights of the basement. And even if the light was faint, it was more than enough to allow Connor distinguish that the man whose body he was pressing against the shelf was no other than…

“… _Markus_?”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeell, not sure if you were expecting that last part. I hope you weren't :P <3 <3


	15. And the reason is you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thanks to [Amiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiko/pseuds/Amiko) for showing this [image](https://twitter.com/HamadDosseri/status/1043085187054219264) to me. It is lovely and represents perfectly Connor and Dana <3 <3
> 
> Also, the song that appears in the chapter is [The Reason](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV4DiAyExN0&list=PL445BA157EEA217F8), by Hoobastank :)

Once again, Connor failed to behave as the fast and most advanced model that he supposedly was, because instead of releasing Markus immediately after discovering that he wasn’t a threat, he simply stood there: eyes opened wide and jaw hanging slack in stupor as multiple warnings of his stress level dramatically raising appeared.

It wasn’t until he heard someone clearing her throat that Connor reacted. He turned his head towards the sound and his eyes managed to open a little more when seeing North there, hands on her hips while standing next to a rather confused (and a little beaten up) Hank.

“I think you can let Markus go already, Connor”

North’s comment made Connor obey while blushing hard, so he finally separated from Markus brusquely, as if the contact itself burnt.

Among all scenarios that Connor had come up with about him meeting Markus again, _this_ situation hadn’t been contemplated in the least. He suppressed a gulp. Definitely, violently attacking the man whose lov- _trust_ you most wanted to regain was far from being a good start.

“I-I’m very sorry”, Connor stuttered, not daring to look at Markus’s face yet as the deviant leader turned around, readjusting the jacket he was wearing with a roll of his shoulders, “we were investigating upstairs when I heard something, but I didn’t realize it was you”

“It’s okay”, Markus said after clearing his throat a little awkwardly, “We were the ones who attacked you two in the first place”

Connor summoned up some courage to finally meet Markus’ eyes, surprised to hear the deviant leader speak with a light hesitant tone instead of the cold, angry one Connor had expected.

However, Connor’s heart sank when noticing the undeniable tension that surrounded Markus’ whole body. Of course, Connor had foreseen this, and he had tried to get used to the idea than when meeting Markus again, it was more than probable that the leader treated him as an enemy, or in the best case scenario, as a stranger. But still, one thing was to visualize what could happen in your head and another to directly experience it, and Connor realized that he wasn’t as prepared to deal with this situation as he had expected.

Besides, the fact that he could detect a hint of _fear_ behind Markus’ clear gaze just made the tightness in Connor’s chest even worse, because knowing that the man who used to trust him most now had passed to fear him, it was one of the saddest things Connor had ever experienced.

Unable to keep holding Markus’ gaze one second longer Connor averted his eyes, gritting his teeth to prevent a loud gulp, _and_ by doing that he failed to see the way Markus himself gulped discreetly, as if the deviant leader had also confirmed something painful that he had been afraid to admit.

“Okay, so now that we know that you aren’t the enemy…”, it was Hank the one who surprised everyone by talking, fixing his blue eyes on Markus inquisitively, “Markus, right? My name is Hank Anderson, I’m Connor’s partner. I guess that you are the deviant leader”

“Yeah, he is”, North answered instead of Markus before looking at Hank with her arms crossed, “and I’m North. Nice to meet you, Hank. And good fight, by the way. It hadn’t been bad for an old man”

Hank snorted, returning North’s superior smile.

“I guess I’ll take it as a compliment. You aren’t half-bad either, young lady”

“Thanks. Although you should know I was holding back: in a normal fight I would have kicked your ass even more”

“ _Oh_ , cocky are we? You should know that I was the champion of the Fight Club in the University for three consecutive years”

“Sorry, old man, my database just stores information of the last 30 years, what is a ‘ _Fight Club_ ’?”

“You little-!”

If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Connor would have probably chuckled with the way North was clearly teasing Hank about his age, but even if Hank and North’s interactions had helped to lower a little the heavy tension that was involving Markus and him, it hadn’t completely disappeared. And probably, Connor thought with remorse, it would have to pass some time until it completely vanished.

North kept teasing Hank another fill minute before the man finally gave up in having the last word, exclaiming an exasperated ‘ _Jesus, women are always the same_ ’ that made North smile with satisfaction before turning towards Connor.

This one immediately tensed. The fact that North had called him by his name and not ex-Hunter, as she used to, made him believe that, surprisingly, the female deviant wasn’t as willing to kill him as he had expected, but still Connor got prepared to receive one of North’s famous deathly punches without blinking, since he would clearly deserved it.

However, before North could talk, some rapid, small steps were heard from the stairs and the door opened to reveal a worried-looking Dana. The concern in her face was replaced by surprise when seeing North holding her breath next to Hank, but when the girl android saw Markus in front of Connor she frowned and immediately ran towards them to situate herself in front of Connor.

The challenging expression that Dana threw at Markus made the leader show a little sad smile that caused Connor’s chest feel tight, realizing how much he craved to see Markus smile again for real. To see Markus smile _at him_ for real.

“It’s okay, Dana. I promised that I wouldn’t touch him again, remember?”

Connor knew that what Markus wanted to imply was that he wouldn’t push him again, but the choice of words made Connor immediately remember the training room, and made him aware that because of his betrayal, it was also probably that he would _never_ learn how Markus’ touch felt on him. And damn if _that_ wasn’t something to regret, but he forced himself not to let his frustration show.

“So you don’t need to protect him anymore”, Markus crouched in front of Dana, who kept looking at the leader warily, still talking with a soft tone, “because what I did…”, Connor almost forgot how his breathing module worked when Markus suddenly looked at him before saying the next words, “…it was wrong. Instead of pushing him, and shouting at him, I should have talked to him, and I should have let _him_ talk too. And I’m really sorry that I didn’t”

Connor didn’t see the way Dana looked at them alternatively. His eyes were glued to Markus’ face, unable to believe what the leader had just said.

After all what Connor had done, after all Connor had caused, it couldn’t be that Markus was trying to _apologize_ , because there was _nothing_ that Markus had to apologize for. And what if he had acted a little violently with him at that moment? Markus could be good and a pacifistic, but he had to be a damn saint for not reacting after learning that Connor had betrayed them.

While Connor kept thinking about what to say, Dana didn’t hesitate in giving her answer to Markus by throwing her arms around his neck. Markus’ bicolor eyes opened briefly in surprise for the unexpected gesture before returning the hug with a smile, using one of his hands to caress softly Dana’s curly hair.

Even the usual badass North was weak to the fluffy scene playing in front of her because she let out an almost imperceptible ‘aw’, as Hank allowed himself to show a lopsided smile. Connor, on the contrary, needed to focus on something that wasn’t Markus and Dana because his system was overflowing with a great number of emotion that, at his current level, he was unable to deal with at the same time.

 _Jealousy_ , because it was Dana the one who was hugging Markus at that moment when that was the thing Connor most craved to do. Or at least, _one_ of the things he most wanted to do.

 _Relief_ for discovering that, against all odds, Markus didn’t seem to hate him;

 _Irritation,_ because Markus had apologized when he, Connor, was the one who most needed to do it and hadn’t done it yet.

 _Tenderness_ , for seeing the affection Dana used to display on him being addressed to Markus this time.

And the most powerful of all: _fear_. An immense fear of discovering that, even if Markus didn’t hate him, it didn’t mean that the leader had forgiven him, or that he could ever done it, and that therefore the precious scene that Connor was witnessing would never repeat again because, inevitably, Connor would be forced to choose a path that didn’t lead to Markus’ side anymore.

Connor felt the threat of a lump forming in his throat, and even if he fought to suppress it, he failed. It settled there, making the already difficult task of trying to express what he was feeling even more impossible, so he simply observed how Markus pinched Dana’s nose playfully before incorporating, thinking to himself that, sometimes, he really missed to be that RK800 android that always knew what to say, and that was never afraid of the consequences of its acts.  

“Okay, as lovely as this scene has been I almost suffer a heart attack when hearing Dana’s steps”, North said then, “so why don’t we get out here before some less friendly police finds us here?”

“I agree, but before getting the fuck out of here one last thing”, Hank looked at North and Markus alternatively with curiosity, “what were you doing here?”

North and Markus interchanged a look before Markus began to talk.

“We were searching for spare parts for our people”

Hank blinked once, slowly, before looking at Markus as if he was dumb.

“And don’t you think that going directly to the fucking Police Stations is a little risky, kid?”

Markus exhaled a short chuckle when hearing the unfamiliar appellative, making Connor feel stupidly jealous again, since he would have liked to be the one in making Markus show that kind of reaction.

“Yes, it is, but we were running out of options”, Markus admitted, “other groups had gone to scavenge to safer places as we speak, but one of the deviants of the church that used to work in the Police commented that in the basement there could be spare parts belonging to archived cases”

“And she was right”, North shook lightly the bag she was carrying on her shoulder, “we haven’t found as many parts as we were expecting but it’s better than nothing”

“Okay, but how did you…”

“The sewers”, Markus answered Hank’s incomplete question with a tiny smile that, once again, caused Connor’s heart to skip a beat, “you can’t possibly know how in handy the underground has been for our revolution, lieutenant Anderson”

Hank snorted.

“Oh, I know. You weren’t the ones who had to stand Perkins and his men when they lost track of you after the march”

While North insulted Perkins (followed by Hank), Markus looked at Connor, while this one wondered if Markus’ gaze had always been so intense or if he had just that impression because of the nervousness. It was probably a little of both.

“And what about you? What were you doing here?”

Connor didn’t answer directly, preferring to think his words carefully, since the last thing he wanted was to sound as if wanted to gain merits to be accepted once again.

“Coming up with a way to save your friends. That’s the first thing he wanted to do after waking up”

Connor couldn’t help to blush when Hank suddenly talked on his behalf. First, because the lieutenant had lied, purposely omitting the part of Connor trying to run away; and second, because Connor would probably have chosen a less straightforward way to explain his intentions.

He couldn’t blame Hank too much for his impatient answer though, because Connor was aware that he was being particularly slow in his reactions: this entire situation he was now living, with him facing the people he had accidentally betrayed, Connor hadn’t got ready for it. He hadn’t prepared what he was going to say, or how to act, because he would have never guessed that he was going to meet them so soon.

However, if there was something Connor had learnt was that life was full of unexpected situations, and that part of being human, of being a deviant, consisted of dealing with those situations as they gradually appeared, so he sighed softly and looked with determination at North and Markus.

He still hadn’t wrapped all his emotions under control, but there was something that it was clear: he shouldn’t feel embarrassed of admitting the truth, of saying aloud and proudly that he was a deviant and that he would do anything in his hands to save his people.

That’s what he wanted to say.

And that’s what he should have probably done if at that moment he hadn’t heard something that made all his senses be in alert again.

“What?”

Connor didn’t get to answer Hank because at that moment all the deviants froze when hearing an voice coming from above them.

“Anderson? Is that you down there?”

Connor’s eyes opened wide when recognizing the irritating, superior voice of Gavin Reed. Markus tensed, probably remembering the detective as the man who had been about to shoot him, North cracked her knuckles, getting ready to fight, and Dana simply grabbed Connor’s hand tightly, feeling the general discomfort.

The only one who looked surprisingly calm was Hank, who closed momentarily his eyes with resignation before exhaling a deep sigh.

“Yes, Reed, it’s me”, he answered in his usual powerful voice before whispering the next sentence to the deviants, “I will deal with him. You four wait for me in the alleyway next to Westbrook street”

“But won’t it be too risky?”, Markus whispered back, “we could simply use the sewers to come back to Jericho”

“Don’t discuss with me”, Hank hissed, talking rapidly, “no matter how advanced you are it will still take you a good couple of hours to get there, so wait for me”

Connor, Markus and Dana nodded as obedient kids but North looked at Hank with a inquisitive expression.

“And what are you going to do with the spare parts we’ve stolen?”

Hank looked at North with a credible confused expression.

“What spare parts are you talking about?”

North smiled widely at Hank and after giving a short, approving nod she and Markus went to the adjacent room where the sewer tap was. Connor remained behind, looking at Hank without bothering to hide his worry, which caused Hank to pat his shoulder.

“See you in five minutes, kid”, he said reassuringly, and Connor automatically relaxed even if he knew that Hank could be just saying that to make him feel at ease.

“What the fuck are you doing down there, Anderson?”, Gavin’s voice sounded now impatient, “let me guess: hiding again to drink?”

“Ha ha ha, always so funny, Reed. It seems that a bullet wasn’t enough to cure your shitty sense of humor”

While Hank and Reed kept interchanging ‘greetings’ Connor and Dana joined Markus and North in the next room. The two deviants had already removed the sewer tap and Markus was sustaining it while North was about to climb down the ladder.

“Wait”, the female stopped and looked at Connor with curiosity when he extracted a small piece from the pocket of his trouser, “can you put it inside your bag?”

“Sure”, she said, letting the bag hang from her right shoulder, “what is it?”

“It’s a #8067k component”, when North’s expression didn’t change, Connor elaborated, “it’s a vital piece of the PL600 androids”

This time, North’s reaction was more similar to the one Connor was expecting: she gasped before snapping a hand against her mouth when remembering that they shouldn’t be noisy not to alert Gavin.

“Then…”, Markus began with a cautious tone, as if he wasn’t daring to let his hopes up yet, “…does that mean that Simon…”

This time, Connor allowed himself to show a tiny smile.

“I’m not sure if he will recover completely but at least his life will stop being in danger, so probably we’ll just need to find a couple more of pieces to make him wake u-”

Connor realized that he had a long way to go until being able to predict deviants’ reactions because not in a millions years he would have guessed that North was going to jump in his arms, making him be about to lose balance for the too effusive hug.

The female deviant didn’t say anything, but this time Connor didn’t need words to understand that by doing that North was expressing her gratitude, and that probably the only reason why she had chosen not to talk was that she was really close to cry.

Connor returned the hug the best he could, but just when he was about to say that it was the least he could do for Simon, his eyes managed to meet Markus’ again even if it hadn’t been his intention. And his artificial heart stopped pumping for a moment when noticing the way Markus was looking at him, with a light that Connor had feared he would never see _ever_ again.

Still hugging North, Connor convinced himself that he was probably misinterpreting Markus’ gaze. After all, even if Markus didn’t seem to hate him, there was no way that Markus still felt _that_ _way_ for him. It couldn’t be. It was _impossible_. So Connor better not have fake hopes about that and simply be happy that Markus still wanted to have something to do with him.

“So you have to visit the basement?”, Hank’s voice suddenly was heard above them, sounding louder than usual, “for once I can make an exception and bring you what you need, since you are incapacitated and more useless than usual”

“I’m just wearing a sling, you drunkard, so no, thank you: I will go myself”

Connor and the rest understood Hank’s warning and immediately began to climb down the ladder to the sewers. North was first, followed by Dana, and although Connor was about to say Markus to go before him he decided to simply climb down after Dana, afraid of suffering some kind of short-circuit if he discovered Markus looking at him in that confusing way once again.

Neither of them talked much until reaching the alley, and when they were finally standing on the streets again, the unspoken concern that reigned in the group about Hank having going through some kind of trouble with Gavin cut off all the attempts of conversations.

Connor focused on mentally counting the time it had passed since Hank went to see Gavin, trying to stop his mind from wandering about the worst case scenarios since some of them were really awful.

However, just when Connor was really considering the possibility of coming back to the Police Station, a familiar old car stopped in front of the alley, causing Connor’s stress levels to reach more normal values once again.

Connor was about to sit next to Hank but North was faster and took the front seat with unusual hurry.

“Come in, we don’t have all day!”, Hank snapped, making Connor, who had interchanged an awkward side glance with Markus, to finally react and enter the car.

Once again, Connor was unable to choose his seat because Dana rapidly took the left seat of the car, forcing Connor to sit in the middle with Markus’ left side in direct contact with his right.

Connor made sure to keep his eyes glued in front of him because Hank’s car wasn’t precisely big and if he looked at his right he would probably see Markus’ face too close to him.

“Okay, put your belts on”

By when Connor analyzed Hank’s indication, the lieutenant had already kicked the accelerator and Connor, who hadn’t even remembered something as basic as putting his safety belt in a car, couldn’t prevent to lean all his weight against Markus when the car turned the next corner way faster than it should.

Automatically, one of Markus’ arms settled around him when he lost balance, and the new contact triggered multiple warnings on Connor’s vision, being among them a detection of raising of temperature.

“Are you okay?”

Connor blamed his own body when it automatically turned towards Markus after detecting a question addressed at him, and he hated it even more when his temperature increased again after his suspicions about the proximity of Markus’ face in that position were confirmed.

“Y-Yes, sorry”

Connor adjusted the stupid glasses he was still wearing and almost ripped the belt off in his emphasis to grab it. He tried to buckle it a couple of times without success but at the end it was Dana the one who had to help him with it because his hands were shaking too much.

Once the safety device was around his chest Connor focused his gaze in front of him, and he had time to see Hank’s eyes looking knowingly at him through the rearview mirror before the lieutenant quickly diverted them towards the road.

“Hey, young lady”

“Yes?”

“Can you please grab the USB that it’s in the glove box?”

“Mmm…this one? What do you need it for?”

“To play some music?”

 “Holy fuck, so this car is _that_ old? Damn, you really are a dinosaur”

“…You know, if you don’t like it you can always go on foot”

“Jeez, okay, okay: I will stop insulting this junk. Here you have it”

The little smile that had appeared in Connor’s face when hearing Hank and North’s chitchat disappeared at once when listening to the song that began to sound.

_I'm not a perfect person_

_There's many thing I wish I didn't do_

_But I continue learning_

_I never meant to do those things to you_

_And so I have to say before I go_

 

Connor froze when listening to the lyrics. That song…it was as if he was telling Markus that…

_That I just want you to know_

_I've found a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_And the reason is you_

Connor made the mistake of looking at Markus out of the corner of his eye, and when realizing that the deviant leader was looking back at him Connor immediately averted his eyes.

Well, maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe Hank had just chosen that song because he liked it, and it had nothing to do with the fact that it really expressed how Connor was feeling towards Markus at that moment and…

_I'm sorry that I hurt you_

_It's something I must live with everyday_

_And all the pain I put you through_

_I wish I could take it all away_

_And be the one who catches all your tears_

_That's why I need you to hear_

 

_I've found a reason for me_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new_

_And the reason is you_

 

Connor gulped.

Alright, probably it wasn’t a coincidence.

And probably, that theoretically short trip to the church was going to be longer than expected.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Hank’s car stopped a couple of streets away from the dome that covered the old church and everyone abandoned the car, Connor making sure to do it for the side where Dana had been sitting.

“Thanks for the ride, lieutenant Anderson”, Markus bent down a little to be at the car’s window level and offered a grateful smile to Hank, “you’ve helped us a lot”

Hank snorted from the driving seat, accepting the hand Markus was offering through the opened window to shake it firmly.

“You can call me Hank. I should go already in case someone decides to contact me, but you can count on me for all your future revolutionary plans”

Hank’s words made Connor smile fondly, thinking for hundredth time how lucky he was of having Hank as his partner and friend.

“See you around, old man”, North winked at him, “you may be a dinosaur but thanks to you my vision of humans has improved considerably”

Hank snorted even harder than before, probably to hide his embarrassment.

“Don’t you have a revolution to lead? Just go already”

Between chuckles, Markus and North finally separated from the car, allowing Connor and Dana to approach it.

“Will you be okay?”, Connor asked, “do you think you will have trouble with Gavin?”

“Nah, I think I convinced him that I just wanted to leave my last case closed, and the fact that this was against my orders will make it more believable”, Hank looked at Connor inquisitively, “and you? Will _you_ be okay?”

Hank diverted his eyes momentarily to where Markus was standing, making Connor understand what he meant without more words.

“Yes, I will”, Connor said with a too reassuring tone that made Hank raise a skeptic eyebrow.

“Okay, if you say so. But do me a favor and talk to your leader already, or the next time we meet I will be the one in telling him that you have the hots for him”

Connor’s mouth opened wide while blushing but he couldn’t reply because at that moment Hank started the car and with a last warning of ‘ _Don’t fucking forget to call me_ ’ he left, not without waving his hand towards Dana, who immediately responded to the gesture with her usual bright smile. Well, at least Hank had the mercy of saying those last words in a lower tone that he really hoped Markus hadn’t heard it.

 After Hank left, Connor followed Markus and North towards the church. He fixed his eyes on Markus’ back and gulped again, knowing that he couldn’t delay talking to Markus any longer. The last time he had decided to wait to tell Markus something, Amanda had been the one in exposing the truth, and that ruined everything, because Connor was sure that if he had talked to Markus before, if he had been able of explaining everything, they wouldn’t be going through so much tension right now. Or at least, it wouldn’t be so uncomfortable, so he better talk to Markus as soon as possible.

When they entered the church, Connor had already decided to approach Markus, and that’s what he would have done if at that moment Kara and Alice hadn’t suddenly approached them. Alice didn’t hesitate in hugging Dana with force while Kara remained in front of him.

“Hey. Are you okay?”, Kara inquired with an hesitant tone.

After his initial stupor Connor nodded rapidly.

“Yes, I’m fine”, Connor looked at Dana, “we are both fine”

Connor looked at Kara again, finding her smiling at him with relief.

“I’m glad to hear it”, Kara settled her hand on Connor’s arm softly, “welcome back, Connor”

Connor’s eyes opened wide briefly before nodding. It was true that when everyone learnt about his mission, Kara and Chloe had just showed confusion instead of anger, but still the AX400’s kindness took him by surprise.

“I like your hair, Dana”, Connor looked at Alice, who was using her hand to ruffle Dana’s black curls, “it’s so fluffy! You should wear it more often”

Alice’s comment caused Dana to blush and laugh at the same time, causing Kara and Connor smile at the same time while looking at both girls, as respective proud parents.

At that moment Markus joined the group and Connor couldn’t help to tense once again. He better control that reactions better from now on or his relation with Markus would never improve.

“Hey, Kara. Is everything okay?”

Kara nodded reassuringly.

“Yes, Chloe and Josh are still out scavenging but some other groups have arrived already and they had found some supplies, so some of the deviants with critical condition are now stable”

“That’s good news”

Markus exhaled a relieved sigh before turning towards Connor, causing this one’s heart to skip a new beat because maybe Markus had reached the same conclusion as him and wanted to talk too, but if that was the case he would need at least a couple of minutes to think about what to say and-

“We are going to give Simon the component you found. Are you coming?”

Connor immediately nodded, relaxing a little just to discover that he had done it too soon.

“And also…”, Connor’s heart skipped another beat when Markus’ gaze gained intensity, “…after that, could you come with me for a second, please? There’s something we need to talk about”

Connor understood the expression of ‘dry throat’ at that moment, when hearing Markus’ petition. And the fact that he couldn’t read Markus’ expression at all wasn’t helping to his nervousness, because it was obvious that Markus wanted to talk about what had happened, and probably about the role Connor would play from then on, but he didn’t know how exactly the conversation would go. Would Markus allow him to stay, or would he ask him to leave? It was true that Markus had said before that he had regretted not having let him talk, but that meant that he had forgiven him? And in any case...should Connor really follow Hank’s advice and tell Markus how he felt? Because the last thing Connor wanted was to make things even more uncomfortable for them both, so probably in case Markus allowed him to stay it was wiser to pretend not being feeling anything for him at all and-

“Hey, come on, slowpokes”

North’s impatient voice interrupted Connor’s train of thoughts, so after making sure that Dana was fine with Alice and Kara he followed the female deviant, giving up in trying to prepare what he was going to say before meeting Markus, and resigning himself to the fact that, once again, he would face a situation for which he wasn’t as prepared as he was used to be. 

* * *

Connor’s assumption regarding the #8067k component had been correct: the moment North carefully removed Simon’s damaged component and replaced it with the new one, Simon’s red LED began to blink for several seconds until reaching a better looking orange tone that Connor hadn’t ever seen before.

It just took Connor a couple of seconds to find information about the orange state of the LED, but that time was enough to make North begin to worry.

“What does that mean?”, North asked impatiently, concern palpable in her voice, “is it good or bad?”

“Good”, Connor answered rapidly, “it means that his system is slowly accepting the new component and checking that everything is okay, so we should have more news in a couple of hours, but this seems promising”

North let out a deep breath and sat down on the bench with her eyes closed, her hand placed gently on Simon’s chest, where his artificial heart was.

“If it’s okay, I’ll be here for a little while”, North said with a tone that suddenly sounded tired, “do you think you can take care of the rest?”

Connor looked North and Markus alternatively when he realized that a wirelessly transmission had taken place between the two deviants, which caused Markus to gulp before nodding. Connor frowned a little with confusion, having the impression that whatever information they had shared was related to him.

“Yes, I think so”

Markus’ answer made North smile softly before turning towards Connor to offer him an unusual warm smile.

‘ _Thanks for the component, Connor. The sleeping-non-beauty here will owe you big time. And me too_ ’

Despite he was nervous for the conversation that was going to ensue, a smile made its way to Connor’s face when receiving North’s transmission. He answered with a soft ‘ _You’re welcome_ ’ before finally looking at Markus, surprised to see the deviant leader looking a little nervous as well. He suppressed a new gulp, not knowing if that was good or bad.

Without interchanging a word, Connor followed Markus, walking side to side with him in silence while doing his best to ignore the heavier and heavier tension that floated between them.

Connor was surprised when Markus lead him outside the church, and his heart began to beat faster when Markus circled the building and stopped in the exact same spot where he was standing when everything happened. When everything broke apart between them.

But even if he was feeling his stress levels reach a peak once again, Connor managed to keep a calmed attitude while fixing his eyes on Markus’ ones, determined to accept the leader’s decision whatever it would be, and getting ready to be asked to leave that place even if that meant that he would have to say goodbye to that future with Markus that he wanted so much.

“You know…”, Markus began to talk with a voice that sounded unmistakably nervous, which confirmed Connor’s worst fears, “…since you left, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring this up. But honestly, I hadn’t imagined that I had to do it so soon”

The nervous laugh Markus exhaled served to lower the tension between them, even if it was just bit.

“Yes, the same goes for me”, Connor confessed, rubbing his palms together nervously to avoid standing motionless as the android he used to be, “but it’s okay: just say what you need to say”

Markus let out a deep breath.

“Okay. But first of all, I want you to know that I don’t expect that you think the same, but it’s something you should know in order to be able to cohabit from now on”

Connor nodded immediately, offering Markus a smile that he hoped made the leader understand that he would accept anything Markus proposed.

“Understood. What is it?”

After a brief silence, Markus gulped and took another deep breath.

“Alright then…”

Connor was more sure than ever that Markus was talking about some kind of rules that he would need to follow from now on in case he wanted to keep living with the rest.

Actually, it was a better development than the one he had anticipated.

“…what I need to tell you is that…”

And even if he would be forced to keep his feelings for Markus hidden, with time he would surely learn to mask them, even forget them, so as long as he could be with the rest, with him, it should be more than enou-

 

“…I love you”

 

Time froze for Connor when hearing the three words he had never imagined to hear from Markus.

He blinked, warnings dancing again in front of his eyes, and tilted his head to the side, confusion being the only feeling that invaded him at that moment.

“W-”

Connor cleared his throat when his voice module failed, making him sound scarily distorted.

He decided to invest a couple of seconds in calming down a bit, so that at least part of the warnings vanished before trying to talk again, sounding this time more like himself.

“What?”

His clever question made Markus chuckle nervously, although he looked more relieved, as if he had just lifted a weight from his shoulders.

“I know. It’s probably stupid”, Markus settled a hand on his hips while using the other one to scratch the back of his head, “I mean, I know that your mission was to infiltrate Jericho, and that therefore getting close to me was just part of your mission, but still… I couldn’t help it”

Markus looked at Connor again, and the warnings he had managed to eliminate appeared again when Markus’ bicolor gaze shined in a way that Connor had seen already once, a mere day ago even if it seemed than an eternity had passed since then.

“I couldn’t help to fall in love with you. The way you always helped our people, the way you helped _me_ in the rooftop, the way you risked everything for us, and how you have kept helping us despite all the things I said to you…all those things, and much more, made impossible for me to stop feeling this way even after learning the truth”, Markus shrugged softly, a sad smile appearing in his face, “so I still love you, Connor. Because even if some of the things that happened between us may not have been real, for me they were”

During Markus’ speech Connor didn’t move, nor changed his expression either, because at first, he couldn’t believe what he was listening.

He couldn’t believe that, after all that had happened, Markus still felt that way. That Markus still loved him.

For a moment Connor thought that it was a dream. That maybe all what happened since Hank found him in the street had been a delusion, that he had collapsed gods knew where after having abandoned the church and he hadn’t waken up yet.

But no.

It wasn’t a dream.

This… _this_ was real. It was happening.

Markus was there, in front of him, not just declaring his love for him but also daring to doubt that Connor could feel the same for him, and certainly he couldn’t blame the deviant leader for believing that: the way Connor had been acting towards Markus after reuniting, avoiding him because of guilt and fear of being rejected, could easily be misinterpreted as Connor being ashamed of having faked everything for the sake of his mission.

But that wasn’t true. Yes, Connor had omitted information, and he had begun to approach Markus for his mission, but he had faked _nothing_. And the same way Markus had managed to show how he felt when Connor rambled about his feelings in the training room, now it was Connor’s turn to do the same.

However, Connor knew that he would be unable to express all he was feeling, not as well as he wanted, not as well as he _needed_ at this moment.

So this time, he decided to ignore words.

With a couple of rapid steps Connor situated in front of Markus. This one automatically tensed, his mouth half-parting probably to ask Connor what was going on, but Connor didn’t let him: without stopping fixing his brown eyes on the deviant leader’s clear ones, Connor grabbed Markus’ hand, rapidly interlacing his fingers together causing their respective synthetic skins to deactivate.

And then, Connor sent Markus _everything_ he had felt for him since the first time they met, and even before.

Connor sent how he had felt that afternoon in the Stratford Building, because even if it wasn’t the time in which he became a deviant, it was the first time in which he wondered if he was doing the correct thing.

Connor sent again how he felt when seeing him playing the piano in that video, how he had thought that Carl was right when saying that Markus had more humanity than most part of the humans Connor had ever met, because even if Markus had just caught a glimpse of Connor’s feelings when they shared memories, he hadn’t experienced them fully.

Connor sent all the moments in which his interactions with Markus had gradually allowed him to experience feelings, even if at that moment he didn’t acknowledge them as such: _admiration,_ when Connor met Markus for the first time and saw how much charisma he had; _nervousness,_ every time that Markus was around, ready to share some kind words or offer him one of those smiles that had become one of Connor’s weakness; _attraction,_ every time Markus casually touched him, or when he accidentally ended pressed against him in that bus, or when he found that Markus’ partial nudity didn’t leave him as indifferent as it should, or when he wanted Markus to shut him up in the rooftop; _fear_ , when Markus proposed to go alone to the club, when Markus was about to be shot.

And finally, _love_.

When Connor discovered that Markus’ life was more important than any mission; when Connor, _finally_ , broke his programming and shattered the walls that had kept him captive, because he understood that life would lose part of its sense if Markus didn’t leave that club alive, if Markus didn’t survive, if Markus _died_ ; when Connor realized that, as the song Hank had chosen said, Markus was the reason that had allowed him to change for better; when Connor felt that one kiss wasn’t enough, that he wanted more moments as the one they shared in the training room; when Connor found himself more lost than ever after leaving Markus behind, when he momentarily felt that it wasn’t worth it to keep trying because the thought of Markus hating him was too much to bear; and finally, Connor sent what he was feeling in that instant, with his eyes locked on Markus’ ones, with their hands interlaced together and with him opening his heart and mind to the man he had come to love.

While the transmissions took place, it was Markus’ turn to look overwhelmed, just as Connor had looked barely a minute ago when Markus surprised him with the words Connor least expected to hear, and when Connor sent the last image, he had to act rapidly to prevent Markus to fall onto the floor when his legs failed him, the emotions of the night, his lack of rest and the recent overload of information being too much for Markus to stand.

Still without saying a word Connor helped Markus to sit on the ground with his back leaning against the church wall. Connor knelt in front of Markus between his parted, flexed legs, still grabbing his hand.

After some too long seconds, Markus raised his face and looked at Connor again, and this one felt his chest tighten when seeing Markus’ eyes shining suspiciously, relief and happiness invading them.

“So…”, Markus began to say in a hoarse tone that showed how close he was to cry, “…this means…”

Connor felt a lump forming in his throat when hearing Markus’ hopeful tone, so he made sure to offer Markus the best possible smile that he could show at that moment, even if it came more trembling that he would have liked.

“Yes, Markus”, Connor said, his voice sounding a little ragged too, “I love you to-”

The last word had barely escaped Connor’s mouth when Markus was on him, grabbing the back of his neck and forcing Connor’s head down to crash their lips together in a passionate, fierce kiss that would have knocked the air out of Connor’s lungs if he had them in the first place.

Connor couldn’t prevent a moan from escaping his mouth when Markus’ mouth devoured his, electrical sparks invading each wire of his system as he grabbed Markus’ face with both hands. He responded to the kiss with equal vigor, willingly parting his mouth so that Markus could deepen the kiss as he wanted, as he craved.

 _Yes_ , Connor thought as Markus locked his other arm around his waist and forced Connor’s body closer to his own, making the angle of kissing more uncomfortable, but Connor didn’t mind. The only thing that mattered was Markus’ warm body against him, embracing him; Markus tilting his head to improve the already great kiss; Markus’ lips momentarily leaving his to deposit a tender kiss on Connor’s cheek, wet because of the tears that had began to fall from Connor’s eyes too after Markus kissed him again, before re-capturing his mouth with a hunger typical of a starving man.

A part of Connor didn’t know if he deserved to be enjoying such a moment of happiness after all the pain he had caused, but at that moment Connor discovered a new feeling: _selfishness_ , and realized that he wasn’t going to give up on this anymore. That no matter how much it would take him, he would find a way to redeem himself without having to sacrifice this, because there was something that he knew: he wasn’t losing Markus _ever again_.

‘ _I’m sorry to interrupt, lovebirds…_ ’

When receiving the sudden transmission Connor and Markus stopped at once their heated make out session and looked at each other with startled expressions before looking around, just to find North some meters away with her arms crossed and an incredible amused grin in her face.

‘ _…but some scavenging groups had arrived, so maybe you should postpone your_ talk _for later’_

Connor and Markus chuckled at the same time before the leader nodded towards North’s direction with a smile.

‘ _We’ll go soon. Five minutes, we promise_ ’

North exhaled a purposely exaggerated sigh.

‘ _Ookay, but make sure to be quick and keep your pants on_ ’

North’s last comment made Markus roll his eyes as Connor politely waved his hand back at North when the female deviant did that same gesture mockingly, even if it was evident how happy she felt for the reconciled pair.

“It seems that we are fated to be interrupted”, Connor commented with a resigned tone that made Markus exhale a short laugh.

“Well, at least it wasn’t Dana the one who caught us”, Markus looked at Connor playfully, making this one remember how much he had missed Markus’ teasing, “she would surely have attacked me for breaking my promise of not touching you again”

Connor exhaled a short chuckle before accepting Markus’ next kiss, that was calmer than the previous ones but just as intense.

“By the way, I’ve been wondering…”, Markus’ offered Connor an ironic smile, “what’s with the glasses? I mean, not that I complain: you look like a sexy nerd with them, but I don’t think that the most advanced RK800 model suddenly has bad eyesight”

“Okay, first of all: I prefer the term ‘bookworm’ over ‘nerd’”, Connor ignored the way Markus chuckled and kept talking, “and second, it was Hank’s fault: he insisted that they would help to conceal my identity when going to the Police Station”

“Really? But that doesn’t have any logic: that kind of thing only works in the literature, like Clark Kent in Superman”

“ _Thank you._ But it’s better if Hank doesn’t hear you say that: he would take it as an offense to his childhood heroes”

“Duly noted”

Connor and Markus remained in a comfortable silence before Connor exhaled a soft sigh, suddenly feeling the necessity of apologizing.

“Markus, I’m sor-”

Connor learnt soon that Markus’ technique of shutting him up with kisses when he didn’t like what he was hearing wasn’t a one time thing.

“There’s nothing to apologize for anymore”, Markus said against Connor’s lip, using his hand to retire some curls from Connor’s forehead, “not after what you have showed me, so from now on let’s focus on not screwing up this again”

Connor returned Markus' soft smile and nodded, leaning forward to kiss Markus again because now that he _finally_ could, he wasn't going to waste any chance to do i-

‘ _Lovebirds, I really hope you still have your pants on_ ’

Connor began to laugh when Markus exhaled an exasperated groan.

‘ _Don’t worry, North, we still have them_ ’, Connor answered, ‘and _we are going now_ ’

North’s next transmission was simply a teasing chuckle before disconnecting.

“Well, it seems that the rest time is over”

Connor stood up and offered his hand to Markus, who sighed with resignation and accepted it to stand up.

“Yes, we should go before North decides to drag both of us herself”

Connor chuckled because he could perfectly picture that image in his head.

They began to walk shoulder to shoulder and Connor was surprised how easily his hand found Markus’ one, as if it had belonged there all that time.

“So Hank said that you have a plan to rescue the others”, Markus asked eventually.

“More or less: I _do_ know where they are but we still need to come up with a plan to enter”

“But how did you manage to find that information so fast? Because we tried to find anything about CyberLife and we found literally nothing”

“Oh, it was actually easy: I just had to seduce the architect who built the tower…”, Markus stopped brusquely, looking at Connor with a frown, and that was the moment when Connor continued with a purposely innocent tone, “…by impersonating Kamski, since the architect was his lover”

Markus half-closed his eyes at Connor while this one was having difficulties to suppress a smile, amused that it would take so little to make Markus jealous.

“It seems that deviancy has made you improve in the teasing department”

Connor chuckled.

“Maybe. Should I take it as a compliment?”

Markus returned Connor’s smile and leaned forward until their noses were brushing softly, causing Connor to hold his artificial breath in anticipation.

“Yes, you should”

This time, Connor was prepared for the heated kiss that followed Markus’ words.

He knew that they still had much to do, and that they had multiple dangers ahead waiting for them, but somehow Connor knew that, with the others’ helps and now with Markus by his side, they would emerge victorious. And this time, Connor didn’t need statistics that made him be sure of that fact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, after making our favorite deviants suffer so much it was time for a just light angsty-fluffy chapter :D Hope you have enjoyed it! <3 ^^


	16. We are going to make it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely, amazing [Amiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiko/pseuds/Amiko) did this beautiful [drawing](https://66.media.tumblr.com/714d834f270a5c515fb96ed898dcd66b/tumblr_pna2mqyw261wabx0so2_1280.png) and the one that appears linked at the end of the chapter. I'm so happy!!! <3 <3 <3

Connor entered the church still holding hands with Markus, and even if he noticed the curious and surprised glances that they were obtaining from several deviants Connor didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least. Markus’ presence next to him made him feel even stronger than he already knew he was, and consequently a situation more striking than being the center of attention had to happen to make him feel nervous.

Something such as Josh waiting with North in one of the rooms of the church, while looking at him intensely when he followed Markus inside the room.

When detecting the tension in Josh’s body Connor got ready to avoid any attacks that the PJ500 decided to throw at his direction. Also, he made sure to have some solid arguments prepared to convince Josh that he hadn’t been mistaken in depositing his trust in Connor.

However, at the end all the preventive actions that Connor took weren’t necessary, since the only thing Josh did was to exhale a long sigh before approaching Connor until being in front of him, the anger that had been present in Josh’s face the last time they talked being nowhere to be found.

“North told me that you have a plan to save our people, and that you found a spare part for Simon that saved his life”

Connor simply nodded, surprise invading his features when Josh’s until now imperturbable expression became guilty.

“I’m sorry, Connor”

This one didn’t understand the deep regret that tinged Josh’s words until the deviant kept talking.

“When you left, I suggested Markus that he…”, Josh stopped briefly and continued talking with a voice that sounded ashamed, “…that he should kill you. While everyone else was trying to do something to actually help, my only contribution was to suggest an execution _._ I behaved like the humans we are fighting against, like the people who think that they have the right to decide if we deserve to live or die, and I’m _really_ sorry for it. You can’t imagine how much”

Connor’s surprise increased when Josh covered his eyes with one hand and began to cry, his shoulders shaking lightly because of the sobs. Connor had been so focused on Josh that he hadn’t realized that Markus had remained by his side observing the PJ500 without barely blinking, paying attention to each one of the deviant’s words in case it was eventually necessary to intervene in the conversation.

After Josh broke down though, Markus immediately reached out to the PJ500 deviant by placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. However, it was Connor the first one in answering to Josh’s apology, since after all it was addressed to him.

“It’s okay, Josh”, Connor offered a reassuring smile to the sobbing android, “you had all the right to get angry. After all, even if it wasn’t my intention, I still betrayed you all”

“But I suggested to _kill you_ , Connor”, Josh insisted, not removing the hand from his eyes yet, “we are lucky for having Markus as our leader: he defended you by arguing that you were one of us while I kept insisting that you didn’t deserve a second chance”

Connor looked at Markus, whose attention was now in Josh, while a warm wave invaded his chest. So even after discovering the truth and his betrayal, Markus didn’t stop believing in him. Connor suppressed a sigh, wondering how it was possible to fall even more for Markus when he was pretty sure that he couldn’t love him more.

“It’s okay, Josh”, Markus repeated, pressing softly the deviant’s still trembling shoulder, “your reaction now proves that you didn’t mean your words. Besides, even the best people say things that they shouldn’t when they are scared, and we all know that you would have _never_ agreed on killing Connor if the circumstances had come to that”

“Yeah, there’s no way that the Ultimate Pacifist would do something like that”, North intervened, crossing her arms, “jeez, you stopped talking to me for two days after I killed a damn fly: like hell if you were going to let Connor die”

Josh exhaled a trembling laugh when hearing North’s rude words, finally removing the hand that covered his eyes.

“Besides, your worry was completely unnecessary, Josh”, Connor intervened while Josh dried his eyes with the back of his hand, “there’s no way that Markus could have killed me: I clearly surpass his fighting skills”

“ _Excuse me_?”

Markus’ offended tone caused North and Josh to chuckle, which made Markus half-close his eyes at them while Connor looked at everyone a little confused, without understanding their reactions because he had just stated a simple fact.

“Well, I’m happy to see that you solved your differences”

Josh’s sincere comment made the leader’s annoyance disappear as fast as it had appeared. With a smile he enclosed an arm around Connor’s middle back as an answer and the last was surprised once again for how rapidly he had got used to those intimate gestures.

At that moment the door of the room opened and Kara and Chloe stepped inside. The first one’s expression softened the moment she noticed where Markus’ arm was, and even if the second one’s eyes opened momentarily in surprise she eventually smiled as well, just a subtle hint of resignation slipping in her gesture.

“Sorry for the delay: I was putting Alice and Dana to sleep”, Kara excused herself while approaching the group together with Chloe, who situated next to Josh before fixing her blue eyes in Connor.

“I was going to ask if you were okay”, Chloe’s eyes diverted then to Markus before stopping in Connor’s again, “but I think it’s not necessary”

Connor, who had been a little nervous when seeing Chloe, finally relaxed and smiled before nodding, glad for not feeling any awkwardness between the female deviant and him.

“Okay, I’m dying to keep teasing Markus and Connor for their recently bloomed love but…”, North’s tone started joking but turned serious in the middle of her sentence, “…now that everyone is here we should really think about what we are going to do next”

Markus nodded and (a little reluctantly) let Connor’s waist go to cross his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, we still are lacking some spare parts but at least with the scavenges that we have done today most part of our people is out of danger, so we should focus on the rescue. And also…”, Markus stopped briefly before continuing with a solemn tone, “…we should finally give an answer to the humans”

When hearing Markus’ words everyone, Connor included, looked at the leader with surprise, but Markus hadn’t finished and continued talking while fixing his bicolor gaze in North.

“A couple of days ago you said that living in the shadows is not freedom, and that it was already time to face humans”

“Markus that day I said a lot of things and most part of them were bullshit”

Markus offered a conciliatory smile at North when hearing her rude, apologetic tone. As Connor had already guessed the day in which Markus and North fought, it was evident that even if probably the female deviant hadn’t apologized to Markus directly, she really regretted the things she said.

“Okay, maybe I could have lived without being called a coward”, the comment made some smiles appear in the others’ faces before Markus’ tone got serious once again, “but the truth is that you weren’t wrong when calling me that, because at that moment I was scared of making a bad decision that would lead to more losses instead of our freedom. However, last night attack made me realize that the time to hesitate had to end. Jericho…no, not Jericho: the _ship_ where we were, where Jericho was, was lost because it took me too much time to decide what to do”

Connor opened his mouth to protest but Markus threw a warning look at him that made him shut up. A warning look that clearly said Connor that Markus wasn’t going to let him keep blaming himself for what happened.

“So I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t want to give CyberLife a new chance to attack us, in this church this time. We are going to fight, and we are going to prove not just CyberLife but the whole world what we all have known from the start: that we are alive; that we aren’t anyone’s slaves anymore; and that we have the right to live our lives without being forced to hide with fear of the next day being the last”

Connor felt his heart skip a beat when Markus looked at everyone alternatively, his eyes showing as much determination as his words had transmitted. Connor knew that he should be used already to Markus’ speech ability and leadership, but still he couldn’t help to feel amazed every time that he witnessed it.

“And when you say ‘fight’…”, Josh began with a cautious tone, “…what do you mean exactly? Because I will follow you no matter what you decide, but…”

“Relax, Josh”, Markus interrupted Josh with a reassuring tone, “I wasn’t planning to attack them directly. However, we all should vote about what to do so attacking is not out of the question yet”

“Tsk, guess who is going for that option”, North rolled her eyes when everyone looked at her, “come on, why are you looking at me like that? You should know me already, jeez”

After the chuckles that North’s annoyed comment had provoked came to a stop, Chloe intervened.

“So what are you planning to do, Markus?”

Markus exhaled a sigh before continuing.

“I guess you all have heard about the camps”

Connor frowned with confusion when Markus’ words considerably worsened the mood of the group.

“Wait, I haven’t”

Kara was the one who answered this time.

“After Jericho was attacked, the news announced that from now on the deviants that were found by the police would be sent to prison. However, what they call ‘prison’ is actually the camps: places where deviants are held captive and treated as malfunctioning machines”

“You have heard about the Holocaust?”, North said in a harsher tone than before, “the same is happening with us”

Connor’s eyes opened wide in horror while his LED turned on red, which caused Chloe to immediately intervene.

“For now the deviants of the camps are fine, or at least all the fine they can be, because while scavenging we overheard some soldiers talking and they were saying that the ’massive disassemble’, as they called it, wouldn’t begin until tomorrow afternoon”

Connor exhaled a relieved sigh. For a moment guilt had struck him forcefully when thinking that even more deviants had suffered a terrible death because of him, but at least, even if it was very little time, they still had some time to come up with a solution.

“So”, Connor had the feeling that Markus had talked again rapidly to prevent him to keep overthinking about his implications in the situation they were in, “my suggestion is to march peacefully toward the camp to pressure the authorities. If they see that we are asking for the liberation of our people without violence, they should listen to us”

“Look, Markus, I really don’t like to be that bitch that always complains about your plans but I guess you remember what happened during the last march”

Markus’ voice sounded sad but also firm when answering North.

“Of course I remember, North. But don’t forget that what happened there allowed to change the mentality of part of the people”

“I’m sorry, Markus, but I’m with North this time”, North looked at Chloe with surprise when this one intervened with a sweet tone that contrasted with the coldness of her eyes, “if people still fail to see that we are living beings after what happened in the Capitol Park and in the March, do you really expect that they change their opinion by marching again? After all they agreed on building the camps to keep massacring us, so aren’t we being too naïve by trusting them?”

Markus exhaled a deep breath.

“I don’t know, Chloe. Maybe you and North are right and a peaceful answer won’t reach them. But I feel that if we choose violence now, we will be betraying all the deviants who died by believing that the peaceful method was the correct thing, so I plan to stick to that”, Markus looked at Connor, Josh and Kara, “what do you all think?”

Josh was opening his mouth to answer when North snorted.

“Please, it’s evident what the Ultimate Pacifist is going to choose, so come on Kara. What do you think?”

Josh threw a half-hearted glare at North, but the PJ500 couldn’t reply anything because Kara began to speak at that moment with a little strained tone that made everyone focus their attention on her.

“I have never told this to anyone, but before becoming a deviant I used to work as a homemaid android for a man called Todd, who was Alice’s father. That man…”

Kara gulped while crossing her arms in front of her chest tightly, as if doing that would protect her from the story she was going to narrate.

“…he wasn’t a good person. He had bought Alice because his ex-wife had took his child away from him after divorcing, and he felt alone, miserable and wanted to prove her that he was a good father, that she had made a mistake by leaving him. But soon, he discovered that _he_ had been the one in making a terrible mistake: he realized too late that no one could replace his daughter, and unable to admit his failure he decided to put the blame on Alice”

Connor’s own LED reached red when seeing the struggle Kara was going through while speaking, and for the silence that has fallen in the room it seemed that everyone was feeling the same as him.

“So he began to treat her badly. He got annoyed every time she acted as the child she was, shouted at her for it, and sometimes even hit her. At first, I let it happen. After all, I was just a machine: there was nothing I could do, nothing I _should_ do. However, thanks to Alice I discovered that Todd almost destroyed me once for having tried to protect her. When that happened I was sent to repair and rebooted, forgetting that memory and also the fact that I had been about to fall into deviancy as a result”

Kara looked at everyone with blue eyes shining with anger.

“I was so furious after discovering that I wasn’t strong enough to save Alice the first time that when Todd attacked Alice again I finally woke up. And even if I could have taken Alice with me and escape from that house, I didn’t. I went to Todd’s bedroom, I took his gun, and when he tried to stop us from leaving…I shot him. I _killed_ him. At that moment I didn’t hesitate, and didn’t regret it either, because I wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t hurt Alice _ever_ again.”

Kara’s revelation made Connor and the rest stare at her with stupor. Up till now he would have never imagined that Kara was able to do something like that, but he realized that he had been a fool: Kara was a survivor the same as the rest, but also she was a mother, and now that Connor knew how it felt to have someone for whom you cared deeply and for whom you would be willing to give up your life, he understood perfectly the choice that Kara took in order to protect Alice. And considering what his reaction had been when Markus was about to be shot, Connor knew that he would have done exactly the same as Kara if he had been in her situation.

“But then, that anger that had possessed me vanished, and I realized too late that what I did was wrong. Because even if Alice never admitted it…”, Connor’s LED blinked in red when silent tears began to fall from Kara’s eyes, “…I know she regrets what happened. I know that, someday, she would have liked to talk to Todd again to ask him why he treated her the way he did, and if he had ever loved her. But she can’t do that. I took that opportunity away from her, and for that reason I swore to myself that I would always avoid violence unless I was left with no other alternative. But now…”, Kara offered an apologetic smile to North and Chloe, “…we have that alternative, so I’m going to choose it. For Alice…but also for me.”

Kara ended her speech with a barely audible voice. During some seconds no one said anything, but then, at the same time, Connor, Markus, Josh and Chloe approached Kara to wrap her in a hug that made the AX400 exhale a little trembling, grateful chuckle. North remained at first at a prudent distance, but eventually she exhaled a trembling sigh an awkwardly approached the others to join the collective embrace.   

“Fucking shit, Kara, that’s playing dirty: now I feel bad for suggesting fighting”

Kara laughed a little breathlessly when hearing North’s raspy reproach. Everyone separated from her not without giving the AX400 a last comforting gesture: Chloe grabbed Kara’s hand briefly, North pressed softly her arm, Josh caressed her back in a soothing movement, Markus settled a hand on her shoulder, and Connor, out of options, ruffled Kara’s hair as he used to do with Dana in a little childish way that made everyone chuckle.

“No, North, you shouldn’t feel bad: everyone has their own circumstances after all, so you should choose what you think it’s correct”

North offered Kara a tiny smile before exhaling a sigh, fixing her eyes in Connor.

“Okay, Con, the moment of truth”, it took Connor more than it should to realize that ‘Con’ was actually him, “if you join the Pacifistic Team then we will go with the march, but if you join Chloe and I it will be a draw, so what’s going to be?”

Connor exhaled a deep breath and looked at the ground, thinking deeply about the two options. During the next half-minute no one talked, and when Connor raised his face again he found everyone looking at him expectantly. 

“As you all know deviancy is something relatively new to me, so whenever a situation like this takes place I can’t help to keep analyzing all the possible outcomes, and what the most optimal solution would be based on the analysis carried out. I know it’s a way of thinking too machine-like, but it’s a method that can come in handy when people are hesitant about what to do”

Connor made a little pause before continuing.

“However, in this case I’m afraid to say that the analysis I performed was completely useless , because the result obtained for the options is too close to 50% to give a conclusive solution about what approach we should choose”

Connor’s comment provoked a murmur of disappointment in the group. The only one who kept observing Connor without saying anything and without averting his eyes from him was Markus.

“This means that, even if I wanted, I can’t trust in logic in this situation. The only thing I can do is something that, some days ago, it would have been impossible for me, and that consists of exclusively trusting in my instinct, and in what my feelings are saying”, Connor looked at Markus in time to see the deviant leader holding his breath, “and keeping with the metaphor of feelings actually being able to talk, they are clearly shouting at me that I should trust Markus, and although I think that we should be ready in case people are not willing to listen and the worst happens, I also think that we should give them a last chance to prove their humanity, the same way that _all of you_ decided to give it to me”

Connor smiled softly when seeing Markus’ eyes get bright once again before the leader suddenly leaned forward to capture his lips in a sudden tender kiss that caused Kara and Chloe to exhale a soft ‘aww’, Josh to smile and North to snort loudly.

“That’s cheating, leader. Your boyfriend obviously is going choose your proposal, it’s not fair!”

“North, I assure you that my answer has nothing to do with our romantic engagement…wait, why are you laughing? Have I said something wrong?”

“Con, you can use all the fancy words you want but I’m not buying it! You vote is completely biased so I suggest to ask someone else about this”

“Oh, great, it seems that I have arrived in time to vote against North as always”

When hearing that voice coming from the entrance, the group had really different reactions: North exhaled a loud curse, Chloe squeaked, Kara simply covered her mouth with her hand in stupor, Josh and Markus’ jaws hanged slack, and Connor’s eyes opened wide while staring at the tired-looking but definitely _alive_ blond deviant that was leaning on the door’s frame, while displaying that always ironic smile that everyone had been missing.

“ _Simon_?”, Markus was the one in talking with a tone of voice that sounded more high-pitched because of the impression, “but how…I mean, what… _Simon_?!”

At any other situation, seeing the normally composed leader stuttering like that would have probably caused the whole group to laugh, but this time just Simon did it to his heart content.

“Wow, Markus, don’t tell me you have lost your way with words while I was absent: as a leader you can’t afford yourself to-”

The same as Markus had been the one to talk, Josh was the first one to act by approaching Simon in a couple of long steps to hug him, causing Simon to be about to lose balance. The PJ500's action was the trigger that caused everyone to finally react by approaching the blond deviant. The only one who stood immobile in the same place was North, who was looking at Simon as if she didn’t believe her eyes.

“How are you feeling?”, Connor asked with a concerned, professional tone while Markus hugged Simon after Josh stepped aside from his closest friend, “is the component working fine? You have woken up way earlier than you should so if you are receiving some warnings it is perfectly normal: it means that your body is still adapting to it, but if you want I can perform a whole scanning to-”

“Oh, man, I have missed you too”, Connor exhaled a little undignified yelp when Simon dragged him by his arm to hug him, “I’m glad that turning into a deviant hasn’t changed your neat attitude”

Connor looked at Simon with surprise when they separated, and the blonde deviant answered Connor’s unasked question with a smile.

“When I woke up I saw that I had an unread transmission coming from you”, Connor automatically tensed but Simon’s next words placated his worries, “it had to be hard, working for those assholes while trying to do the correct thing. You’re really something, Connor”

Connor exhaled a relieved chuckle when hearing Simon, his chest feeling warm because of the PL600’s support. Definitely, he couldn’t be luckier with the people he had met at Jericho.

“Okay, everyone, go calling the doctors”, Simon suddenly said with a resigned tone, fixing  his blue eyes on North’s still immobile figure, “because I’m pretty sure I’m going to be punched right now”

Simon’s supposition about North approaching him was correct, because the moment he stopped talking the female deviant began to walk toward him with her hands turned into fists. She stopped in front of Simon and with a rude movement she grabbed the arms that the blonde deviant had raised and crossed in front of his face as a rather useless protection, forcing them out of his face and causing the PL600 to close his eyes tightly for the hit that was going to come.

However, the punch that Simon was expecting never happened and his closed eyes snapped open when North suddenly pulled him down to plant a hard, rude kiss on his lips.

This time, the reactions of the group were pretty similar: everyone gasped in surprise with the exception of Markus, who simply observed the scene with an amused, knowing smile in his lips, while Connor wondered how he could have failed to foresee this development if theoretically he was able to perfectly reconstruct the psychology and behavior of humans, androids and deviants. It seemed that his specifications had been _over_ estimated and the ones who designed him had clearly _under_ estimated the complexity of feelings.

The unexpected kiss ended as abruptly as it had started, and when they separated Connor thought to himself how he could have not seen before that light that adorned North’s eyes, so similar to the one Markus had when looking at him, and that was a loud hint of what the female deviant was feeling for the PL600 android despite the frown that was still adorning her face.

“This is for saving me”

Connor discovered that day that, despite North’s apparent impulsive nature, she was a fearsome strategist ready to attack when no one was expecting it, and she proved it to everyone by suddenly punching Simon when everyone was already relaxed, causing the blonde android to exhale a pained whine, that removed all the doubts Connor could have about androids actually feeling physical pain.

“And _this_ is also for saving me”, North snarled while Simon rubbed his cheek, “so next time that you think about playing the hero, you better remember this”

Simon moved his lower jaw from one side to another, making sure that it still worked, before speaking again with a casual tone that differed from the teasing that his eyes showed.

“The kiss will be included too if I do it? Because in that case it will be worth it”

North rolled her eyes but her attempts of hiding a smile failed.

“Idiot”, she simply whispered before throwing her arms around Simon’s neck, wrapping him in a tight, tender hug that the blonde deviant returned, one of his arms enclosing around North’s waist tightly while the other began to play with her amber hair.

‘ _Markus, did you know about this?_ ’, Connor transmitted privately, since he had noticed the leader’s previous lack of reaction.

‘ _Well, I had my suspicions_ ’, Markus’ tone sounded mocking in Connor’s head, ‘ _don’t tell me that the most advanced RK800 whose fighting skills <clearly surpass mine>  wasn’t able to read the hints_’

Connor half-closed his eyes at Markus, whose smile simply widened causing Connor to learn what it mean to be annoyed. However, he hadn’t time to reply to Markus’ transmission because at that moment North separated from Simon and after depositing a quick peck on his lips she turned towards the rest.

“Okay, so since we have already decided to go for the Pacifistic route we should talk about how to rescue the others”

“Hey, why do you assume that I’m going to choose that route?”

“What? So for once you are with me?”

“Heaven forbid, no, but still you should let me express my point neverthel- _ouch_!”

“Damn, being about to die hast just turned more exasperating”

“Yes, but come on, admit it: you love me for that”

“Of course I do but don’t even think that I’m going to treat you any better from now on”

“I wouldn’t dare, babe… _ouch_! Okay, no babe in public”

“And neither in private, you idiot!”

“Oh, man, I’m going to have so much fun teasing you for this”

“Josh, don’t intervene!”

‘ _Shouldn’t we remind them that we have a plan to carry out?_ ’, Chloe transmitted to Markus, Kara and Connor.

‘ _Yes_ , _we should. But they are so cute…_ ’, Kara said while placing her joined hands against her chest.

‘ _Actually, while talking about the two alternatives I’ve had an idea about how to perform rescue. I think that I will be able to expose it in less than an hour, so we can give them 5 more minutes_ ’

‘ _Let me guess: you have already set a countdown_ ’, Markus said with a smile that Connor returned.

‘ _Yes: they have exactly 4 minutes and 17 seconds (now 16) to keep flirting-fighting_ ’

‘ _Flirting-fighting, I love the term_ ’

“And you four stop already with the transmissions because I can perfectly see your LEDs blinking!”

“But how do you deduce that the four of us are transmitting, North? Kara and Markus have removed their LEDs, so it could just be Chloe and me”

“Con, I like you now, so please, don’t make that change”

The flirting-fighting between North and Simon, Josh’s teasing and the not-so-secret transmissions between Connor and rest continued for another 4 minutes until Connor seriously announced that he was going to explain the plan to rescue the others.

In order to show the plans of CyberLife that Mrs. Lilton had sent him, Connor used a tablet that Josh had found while scavenging. Everyone situated around him while he carried out the explanations. During the first half-an-hour he was the only one to talk about the Tower’s structure and about the security they would be facing, while rest intervened occasionally to ask for clarifications. However, when he began to give details about how the infiltration would go, everyone began to talk at the same time, going against it.

“Okay, so you are saying that you plan to infiltrate in a tower of 93 floors _alone_ , and carry out the rescue on your own”, Markus blinked purposely slow, “I fail to see the joke”

Connor exhaled a patient sight that just served to increase the leader’s annoyance.

“You’re manipulating my words, Markus, because for starters I have already said that Hank has to go with me so that I can enter. Also, even if you will not be inside the Tower, you will be keeping watch outside and we will be in contact”

“But Connor, even if some of us are outside the fact that you would be alone inside the Tower doesn’t change, so we won’t have enough time to go to help you if something happens”

“Chloe is right. And please, spare me the comment of your fighting skills being superior because even if you are more than capable of defending yourself, if CyberLife sends all its men after you there’s no way that you can against all of them”

“Guys…”

“The point of the plan is to infiltrate, Markus”, Connor said, without noticing that Kara was looking at the plans with a concentrated look, “so it’s rather unlikely that I’m involved in a massive battle”

“’ _Unlikely_ ’”, Markus repeated before snorting, “did you know that when your life is in danger you purposely omit exact results?”

“Alright then: there is a 23% of possibility that the infiltration fails”

“ _Guys_ …”

“That’s is too risky!”, Markus snapped, “that means that 1 out of every 5 you can fail!”

“Congratulations, leader: you can do maths!”

“ _Dude_!”

“For goodness sake, Simon, _not now_ ”

“Shit, I’m sorry, you’re right: I think I haven’t recovered fully and my ironic module is too wild right now”

“ _GUYS_!”

When Kara suddenly raised her voice, everyone stopped talking at once to look at the AX400 deviant signaling a particular spot of the plans.

“I think I have found an alternative route”

Connor blinked and looked the place Kara was widening in the tablet. He reviewed the plans, rapidly swiping his finger across the tactile device until reaching the information he was looking for. He rapidly read it while Markus looked at the screen with curiosity over Kara and Connor’s shoulders. After some seconds, Connor hummed to himself and looked at Kara with an impressive look.

“Great job, Kara. If we use it, we can reduce the risk of being discovered to a 7.8%. Although that means that I will need someone else’s help to carry out the plan”

“Okay, count on me then for that task”

Everyone except Connor looked hesitant when hearing Kara’s proposal, which caused the AX400 to exhale a patient sigh.

“Look, I know that all of you are thinking about Alice, but both the rescue and the march to the camps are risky, so I want to do all I can to bring Luther back, because I know he would do the same for me if our roles were reversed”

“But Kara if at the end…”, Chloe rectified herself, “…I mean, wouldn’t you prefer to be with Alice if…”

Chloe didn’t end the sentence, but it wasn’t necessary. The words ‘if we fail’ heavily hanged in the air until Connor spoke.

“Alright, I’m going to say something that my partner Hank told me before. It isn’t going to sound too nice so I apologize in advance, but I think it’s suitable for the situation”, Connor cleared his throat and proceeded, “‘ _ifs are bullshit_ ’”

Connor saying that word with his usual polite tone caused North to snort a surprised laugh that immediately lowered the tension that had fallen between Markus and Connor after their disagreement.

“It’s true that he used that bucolic expression to say that we shouldn’t mourn about what could have happened in the past, but I also think that it can be applied to the future, because even if we invest a lot of time in thinking about what could happen, we can’t know it. My analysis and statistics can help in determining what is most probable to happen, but no one can predict what the future holds”, Connor looked at everyone before continuing talking, “so what I want to say is that, at this point, each one of us should simply do what they feel is correct, by always assuming that we are going to make it, that we are going to succeed. Because if we begin to think about all the things that can go wrong, the fear will paralyze us and we won’t be able to act”

Connor hadn’t planned to give a speech, but for the way everyone was looking at him, it was exactly what he had done.

“Leader, maybe your position is in danger, just saying”

Connor exhaled an embarrassed chuckle when hearing Simon’s comment.

“I know”, Markus agreed, “I should be careful”

Connor’s heart skipped a beat when seeing the fond look Markus was offering at him, even if the leader’s tension was an indicative that Markus still didn’t like the idea of Connor and Kara going alone to the Tower.

“So then the plan has changed, right?”, Josh intervened, “while Markus, North and Chloe lead the march to the camps, Simon and I will be keeping watch outside CyberLife’s Tower while Kara, Connor and Hank infiltrate”

Connor was about to nod but at the last moment he remained silent, reviewing the infiltration process to enter inside the Tower. Now that his first plan had been replaced by Kara's most prudent one, Connor came up with a new way to enter that implied one more person joining the infiltration team. He proceeded to explain the reason for that new requirement to the rest, which made everyone remain silent for some seconds.

“Okay, so…”, Simon began, “who will be going with Connor and Kara?”

“Markus will”

North’s prompt answer made everyone but Connor look at her in stupor, being Markus the most surprised of all.

“What? But wouldn’t it be more logical that I lead our people?”, Markus said, with a frown, “I mean, how can I tell everyone that they should peacefully march to the camps and risk their lives in the process if I'm not doing the same?”

“By telling the truth”, North talked as if it was obvious, “by explaining them that you are going to save our people, and that meanwhile you need their help. Because you may be the leader, Markus, but no one is expecting that you do everything alone. At least, we are not expecting that. And the same you were here to bring us hope when we have lost it, now it’s our turn to help you”

Markus averted his eyes, thinking deeply, before looking at Connor.

“Tell me something, Connor, and please, be sincere: among the people in this room, who do you think it’s the most suitable to be in the infiltration team?”

North was about to protest but Simon settled a hand on her shoulders, softly indicating her that it wasn’t in her hands.

Connor looked at Markus seriously, realizing that the deviant leader was more nervous for the answer than he wanted to pretend, and he knew the reason: even if it was evident that Markus wanted to go with him he wasn’t that selfish to give priority to his desires over the mission, over his people. That was the main reason why he was such a great leader, so Connor made sure to give strong arguments to put Markus at ease.

“You. Among us, you are only one whose abilities are more similar to mine, and some of them such  as voice mimicry and preconstruction can be more suitable for the infiltration than for the march. So I agree with North: you should come with us”

It was impossible to miss the relief in the sigh that Markus exhaled when hearing Connor. The deviant leader nodded and turned toward the others.

“Okay, then it’s decided: Connor, Kara, and I will infiltrate in the Tower. North and Chloe will lead the march to the camps, and Simon and Josh will be waiting to help us with the captured androids. Any questions?”

“Nope, but don’t blame Chloe and I if the march ends becoming a little more violent than it should”, North winked at Markus when this one gulped, “it’s a joke: we will stick to the plan, right Chloe?”

“Of course”, Chloe answered with an angelical smile that, at that point, didn’t fool Connor because she had seen how deadly Chloe could be with a metal pipe in hand.

* * *

After spending another full hour discussing the plan, Connor called Hank to explain what his role was going to be in the rescue while the others went to gather all the things they could for the next morning. The lieutenant would also be in charge of providing them with some supplies that were rather indispensable to carry out the plan successfully, so after Connor made sure that Hank wasn’t going to risk himself too much while gathering them he was going to hang up when Hank surprised him with a question.

“ _And how are things goings between your leader and you? Still acting like a pair of clueless teenagers?_ ”

Connor exhaled a little embarrassed chuckle before answering.

“No, not anymore. We are romantically engaged once again”

Connor didn’t understand the burst of laughing that sounded at the other side of the line.

“ _Jesus, Connor, just say that you are together’_

“But together is a rather ambiguous term: you and I were together while working but our relationship is not romantic in the least, and here in Jericho there are a lot of people gathered together but it doesn’t mean that-”

“ _I will never learn…_ ”

“Hank? What did you say? I didn’t hear you”

“ _Never mind, son. Just that I’m happy that you are ‘romantically engaged’ now, but do me a favor and search in that endless database of yours other terms related to romance to avoid sounding like an even older man  than me”_

Connor had followed Hank advice and after taking notes of more romance related terms he went to watch the speech Markus was giving from the altar, leaning his back against one of the walls of the church. 

“I know…I know you’re all angry”, Markus was saying with an understanding tone, “And I know you want to fight back. But I assure you violence is not the answer here. We are going to tell them peacefully that we want justice. If there’s any humanity in them, they will listen. And if not, others will take our place and continue this fight. Are you ready to follow me?”

A loud clamor invaded the building after Markus finished talking, which proved that the deviants would follow their leader wherever he decided to take them. Connor now understood better why Markus had broken down that day in the rooftop. The responsibility the leader was carrying had to be really hard to stand sometimes, so Connor hoped that Markus remembered that he could always count on his friends, and on him. And well, if he dared to forget it, Connor would simply give him a kind reminder.

Markus spent some more minutes talking to all the deviants that came to him with doubts or in search of advice. When he finally finished after twenty long minutes, Connor approached him.

“Your battery level is below 47%. You should rest immediately because we just have 6 hours until we have to get ready for the rescue”

Markus exhaled a tired laugh.

“Hello to you too”, he joked, before his tone sounded a little hesitant, “what do you think about the speech? Was it okay or…?”

“It was good. You proved your point and explained what you thought it was better but without imposing anything. In a scale of 1 to 10, I think it was an 8”

Connor had added the last part to reassure Markus, and it worked because the leader chuckled, his shoulders losing part of their tension.

“Okay, I will try to improve my score in the next one”

Connor grabbed Markus’ hand and guided him to the place where Dana and Alice were sleeping on the floor, next to a bench where Kara was sitting. The AX400 had made an improvised bed for them with a couple of coats working as the mattress and a thin blanket covering them. The two girls were facing each other and one of their hands were interlaced, showing the porcelain plastic instead of their respective pale and tanned synthetic skin.

Kara had her eyes closed, her elbow settled on the bench’s arm and her chin leaning on the palm of her hand, so Connor and Markus made sure to circle the girls in silence and sit down carefully, not to bother the AX400 android.

They remained in a comfortable silence for some seconds, Connor sitting straight in the bench and Markus with his legs crossed, his hands still connected and eyes focused on the two little androids that were sleeping peacefully.

‘ _You know, when you left Kara was really worried for Dana_ ’, Markus commented wirelessly, to make sure that his voice didn’t wake Kara up, ‘ _but North and I knew that you would have taken her with you_ ’

A tiny smile escaped Connor while shaking his head.

‘ _Actually, she followed me_ ’, Connor said, tenderness invading his tone, ‘ _she even tried to protect me from Hank when I collapsed’_

Connor regretted his words when Markus looked at him with worry.

‘ _Did you collapse?_ ’

Connor thought about lying for a moment to reassure Markus, but eventually he decided not to. There had been enough lies between them already, he didn’t want to add more to the list.

‘ _Yes_ ’, he admitted, ‘ _but Hank found me really quickly, brought me to his house, and after a full night of rest I was fine again_ ’

Connor thought that his explanation would make Markus feel better, but when the deviant leader talked that guilt was still present in his tone.

‘ _Can I ask you something, Connor?_ ’, this one nodded, even if he had the feeling that he was going to prefer not having to answer the question, ‘ _if your plan was helping us all along, why didn’t you stay and told us what you planned to do?_ ’

Connor’s LED blinked in yellow for a moment. What Markus was asking was something Connor had preferred to keep to himself, but he couldn’t help it now.

‘ _Do you remember what Hank said in the basement? That the first thing I wanted to do was to help in the rescue?_ ’, when Markus nodded, Connor took a deep breath and continued, ‘ _that was a lie. Actually, when I woke up the first thing I tried to do was to disappear_ ’

Markus frowned with confusion.

‘ _Disappear_?’, Markus’ eyes opened suddenly in horror, his hand pressing Connor’s one with force, ‘ _wait, you mean…_ ’

Connor understood what Markus meant and insulted himself for not having chosen more appropriate words,

‘ _No no no, I don’t mean that I planned to kill myself’,_ Connor felt the pressure in his hand come back to normal, ‘ _I wanted to make sure that, in case Amanda tried to control me again, I would be far enough not to harm you again’_

‘ _But what if Amanda had controlled you again. What would you have done?_ ’

‘ _Markus, remember what I’ve said about the ifs_ ’

‘ _Connor’_ , Markus’ tone made Connor stop his transmission immediately, ‘ _please, tell me. What would you have done?_ ’

After a brief pause, Connor eventually answered.  

‘ _Considering the state I was at the moment, I would probably have considered the option of terminating things_ ’

The remorse and sadness that appear in Markus’ eyes made Connor feel a lump forming in his throat.

‘ _Damn, Connor, I’m sorry_ ’, Connor’s chest felt tight when hearing the self-loath in Markus’ voice, ‘ _it was my fault. If I had just talked to you then, you wouldn’t have thought about doing something like that. I’m so sorry, I…_ ”

Connor couldn’t stand hearing Markus’ apologies one second longer so with a brusque movement rather uncharacteristic of him he grabbed Markus’ face and captured the leader’s lips fiercely, trying to literally kiss his guilt away.

“You said it yourself, remember?”, Connor whispered against Markus’ lips when they separated, “that I didn’t need to apologize anymore, and that we should focus on not screwing this up from now on. Well, you should practice what you preach, _leader_ ”

Markus chuckled softly when hearing the irony Connor had purposely applied to the last appellative. The leader gave a short nod and turned his head a little to the side to deposit a soft kiss on Connor’s palm, making the last feel a new pool of warm invading his body.

He leant forward with the intention of kissing Markus again when he noticed some movement on the floor. He looked in the direction of the noise and a smile formed in his mouth when seeing Dana in a sitting position, looking at Markus and Connor alternatively with a grin in her face.

“Oh, hey”, Markus said with a smile when noticing the girl android, before adopting an apologetic tone, “sorry, sweetie, we have woken you up”

Dana made a funny dismissive gesture with her hand, indicating that way that Markus was right but that she didn’t mind. At that moment Dana’s face illuminated, as if she had just remembered something, and taking care of not waking Alice up she stepped out of the blanket to recover a small backpack on the floor, that she proceeded to open to extract a paper from it.

Both deviants observed Dana with curiosity as she situated in front of them. She had the paper against her, not letting them see what was on it yet, and then with a theatrical gesture she turned it so that Connor and Markus saw it. Both deviants tilted the head at the same time because the drawing was upside down, making Dana blush a little while rapidly correcting the paper position after clearing her throat.

Connor decided that asking Dana about who had brought the pencils to her wasn’t important at all at that moment. What it mattered was the drawing that Dana had done and that, this time, included more people than Connor and herself: Hank was there too, drawn with his characteristic frown, his grey hoodie and a half-smile that was surprisingly accurate, and now Dana had drawn himself in the middle of two androids, holding hands with them. One of them was Connor, with his brown hair now more messed, and the other was obviously Markus, drawn in a darker color and with excessively big blue and green eyes.

At that moment, Connor heard Markus sigh next to him, and when looking at the leader he couldn’t suppress a smile when seeing Markus’ eyes being brighter than usual.

Dana, misinterpreting Markus look as confusion, signaled rapidly the tanned android in his drawing before signaling Markus, but before she could complete the action Markus softly grabbed her hand and made her sit in his lap, pulling her into a soft embrace not to wrinkle the paper she was sustaining. The girl android smiled and after leaving the paper on the bench she got comfortable against Markus, closing her eyes while leaning her head against Markus’ chest.

Connor observed the scene in silence, an indescribable feeling of happiness invading him but also of sudden fear: fear of losing what he had come to have, fear of not emerging victorious, fear that maybe he was too optimistic about his plan and maybe at the end it wasn’t that good and-

‘ _Hey_ ’

Connor almost jumped in his seat when Markus talked to him wirelessly while grabbing his hand again, his clear eyes burying in his brown ones with determination, as if he had read his momentary hesitation.

‘ _We are going to make it. There are too many things that remain to be done and that I refuse to miss: we will team up with Josh and Chloe to tease North and Simon about their <bloomed love> and for all the teasing they put us through before; we will see Blue and Brona reunite again after the rescue is a success; we will go to the bus station to say goodbye to Kara, Luther and Alice if they eventually go to Canada; we will meet with Carl when everything finishes, to tell him that maybe finally I have found a worthy rival to play chess with him sometimes, and to ask him if I can use his piano and his studio again because I want to play for you, and to paint for you; we will meet Hank and will make Dana’s drawing a reality; and finally…_’

Connor, who had been listening to Markus without being able to emit a single word, hold his breath when Markus connected with him and sent him all the emotions he was feeling at that moment towards him: gratitude, affection, love, and a new one that made warnings appear in front of Connor’s vision because of the intensity it carried. 

‘… _when everything finishes, you and I are going to resume what we left unfinished twice. And this time…’,_ Markus interlaced his fingers in the back of Connor’s hair and approached his face to his until their noses were lightly touching, ‘ _…we are not going to get interrupted_ ’

Connor felt all the connections of his body react at the same time when Markus said those promising words in a hungry tone that didn’t leave much space to doubts. Connor put an end to the small distance that still existed between his mouth and Markus’ to kiss the leader, making sure not to wake Dana up in the process since she had fallen asleep again against Markus’ chest. 

When they separated, both had respective smiles in their faces, and since no more words needed to be spelled they got all the comfortable they could on the bench: Markus leaning the back of his head on the top of the bench’s backrest and Connor leaning his head against his shoulder, one of his hands placed on the one Markus had on Dana’s waist.

The last thought that invaded Connor’s mind before finally sleeping was that he finally understood the sentence [_'a place to belong_ ’](https://66.media.tumblr.com/aeb25a89f8927fde4bd215b95b4aa91a/tumblr_pna2mqyw261wabx0so1_1280.png), and now that he had finally found it, he would do all the necessary to protect it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I was fearing, my estimation of the number of chapter was wrong ^^U Because theoretically the rescue was going to begin in this chapter but at the end plot and _too much dialogue_ happened, so I think that instead of 19 the fic will have 20-21. Hope you have enjoyed the calm chapter anyway, and brace yourself because next one is going to be a little more intense ;)  <3 <3


	17. Mission accomplished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for all the grammar mistakes you may found: I will revise them later more calmly, but since tomorrow is going to be a busy day I wanted to update it tonight that I had more free time ;)
> 
> Also, in case someone is interested these are the levels that CyberLife Tower has (they appear in the _Battle for Detroit_ chapter):
> 
> Management: .......................40 to 43  
> Marketing: ............................25 to 39  
> Legal: ...................................17 to 24  
> Design: ..................................8 to 16  
> Customer Relations: ............. 1 to 7  
> Shipping: ..............................-3 to 0  
> Sorting and handling: ...........-9 to -4  
> Assembly: ...........................-10 to -40  
> Manufacture: ......................-41 to -43  
> Research & Development:...-44 to -48  
> Warehouse: .........................-49

Connor had never felt nervous when starting a new mission. After all, he had carried out most part of his tasks when he was still a machine, when he was beginning to fall into deviancy, and at that time he didn’t know anything about feelings, forcing himself to push them out the moment he suspected they were beginning to appear. That meant that the mission they were going to carry out was his first mission since he became a deviant, and now, sitting in the back of Hank’s car while the lieutenant took him, Markus and Kara to the CyberLife Tower, Connor felt all the negative emotions that he had tried to suppress bubbling up inside.

He turned his face to the right to look at Markus. The deviant leader and Kara were dressing SWAT uniforms that Hank had managed to secretly get thanks to Chris. When Hank first suggested to ask the man for help, Markus and the rest had been quite reluctant. After all, Chris had been one of the officers at fault for shooting deviants during the incident in Capitol Park. However, Hank stood for Chris, saying that Markus sparing his life had made him change his mind about androids, and that in fact he had been reprimanded several times after that for ‘ _doing a poor job catching deviants_ ’, which could easily be translated as Chris letting them escape. So, since Connor had complete faith in Hank and Hank trusted Chris everyone decided to go with Hank’s idea, which resulted in a success.

After some seconds of Connor observing Markus lost in his thoughts, the deviant leader looked back at him and offered him a smile that immediately calmed Connor, and not precisely because it transmitted serenity but just the contrary: it was obvious that Markus was as nervous as him, the same as Kara, who was sitting with a really tense posture in the front seat, and even Hank, whose knuckles were almost white for the force he was applying to the steering wheel.

Connor realized then that he wasn’t the only one afraid now that they were close to their destination. Everyone was aware that the lives of all the captured deviants depended on them, and not just that: probably the result of that mission and of the manifestation that was taking place at the same time would gravely impact the future of the androids, which was a really huge responsibility.

However, as Connor himself said the previous night, being worried about possible bad outcomes wouldn’t help the mission but just the contrary, so Connor forced himself to stop his depressing train of thoughts at that moment, focusing on more positive ones: such as Dana enclosing her tiny but at the same time strong arms around his waist and Markus’ as a momentary goodbye; or North rudely telling Simon to be careful before kissing him with a passion that made Josh blush; or Chloe and Brona coming to them to wish them luck; or his favorite after Dana’s hug: Hank arriving at the church and stopping in front of Markus and him to congratulate them for being together, just before addressing Markus in a threatening tone by telling the leader that he better not make Connor cry again (Markus gained points with Hank when the leader didn’t show the least hint of fear even if Connor could detect that his heart rate had accelerated).

Feeling way better than before thanks to the positive memories, Connor decided it was time to lower the tension floating inside the car, and adopted a casual tone before talking.

“Hank, we have to go back to the church. I have forgot something”

Everyone looked at him with shocked expression.

“What the hell, Connor, seriously?!”

“Yes”, Connor pointed at his eyes, “I forgot the glasses for my disguise”

Connor smiled when the unanimous reaction was a long, relieved sigh followed by curses coming from Hank.

“You shitty brat. Jesus, I’m _old_ , remember? You almost cause me a heart attack!”

The irritation in Hank’s words lost all its effect because of the smile he was trying hard to suppress with little success, probably for the way Kara and Markus had begun to laugh after discovering that Connor had just fooled them.

“I’m sorry”, Connor said with just a light apologetic tone, “but you were all really tense, myself included, and I thought that a little joke would help to improve the mood”

“Well, heart-attack aside you had made it. But I will remember this”

Connor smiled to himself, remembering that he had said those exact words to Dana when the girl threw a snowball at him, the fact that Hank treated him the same way as he treated Dana causing a warm feeling to settle in his body.

‘ _It’s a pity_ ’, Markus transmitted suddenly, ‘ _those glasses looked good on you_ ’

Connor rolled his eyes before looking at Markus, finding the leader smiling teasingly at him.

‘ _Don’t worry, Dana has kept them. If you like them that much I can wear them again_ ’

‘ _Nice. And…just out of curiosity: what happened with the clothes you were wearing in the club?_ ’

‘ _Well, they should still be in Hank’s home, why?_ ’

‘ _Because Markus liked your k-pop attire, Connor’_

‘ _What the…Kara?!_ ’

‘ _Oh my, so you didn’t know that you were talking in the common channel?!_ ’

‘ _Nooo, Kara, why?! Just when the interesting part was going to start’_

_‘In my defense I have to say that I was going to warn you but Simon didn’t let me’_

_‘Oh, come on, Josh, don’t lie: you wanted to listen as much as I did!’_

Connor couldn’t help to laugh when Markus rubbed his eyes blushing softly and Kara began to giggle again. Connor looked through the back window and his advanced vision allowed him to pinpoint Simon and Josh several meters behind them, each one of them driving a public bus that they had confiscated from the bus station with the help of other deviants.

Those vehicles would be necessary to take back the captured deviants to the church. At first, Simon and Josh had insisted in joining the manifestation that North, Chloe and the rest were leading, by saying that there were a lot of deviants that could take care of the driving. However, Markus told them that he would feel way better by knowing that the final step of the rescue was in their hands, and obviously after hearing their leader and friend to deposit such trust in them, they had been unable to say no.

“Okay, everyone, sorry to stop the diversion but we are here”, Hank announced when they were close to the barrier that CyberLife had built just at the end of the bridge, looking at Connor through the rear-view mirror, “you should begin with the show”

Connor nodded with confidence before looking at Markus and Kara, the conversation in the common channel stopping at once. The female deviant offered him a reassuring smile while Markus nodded back with determination, letting him know without words that he was ready for what was about to come. Connor made sure one more time that the last modifications he had performed in his system were working, and when he verified it he reduced his processes to the minimum, so that the only functionalities that remained active were the basic ones that allowed him to keep moving, while his brain entered in saving-energy mode.

By doing that, it looked as if Connor had been rebooted, his look and movements as robotic as the first time he met Hank in that bar. With his current settings, Connor could sense what was happening in his surroundings but it was as if he was in standby mode, so when Hank finally stopped in front of CyberLife’s control he remained sitting, looking in front of him with a blank, slightly stupid expression.

Markus and Kara had put his helmets on already so that their faces were completely covered. Markus grabbed one of Connor’s arm and in the front sit Kara was carrying one of the riffles that Hank and Chris had confiscated from the armory. Hank barely reacted when the two armed guards that were keeping watch approached the car with his guns prepared, his tone completely calm despite the clear threat that invaded the atmosphere.

“Good morning”, Hank simply said, extracting his police badge to show it to the guard, “Lieutenant Hank Anderson, Detroit Police. We have orders to return this android to you”

The guards remained in silence for some seconds while observing Connor in the back seat. This one registered Kara sustaining his weapon with more force, although he didn’t know what the cause for that was.

One of the guards gestured towards Markus so that this one lowered the car window on Connor’s side. After Markus lowered it, the guard extracted from one of his pockets a portable scanner and pointed at Connor with it, moving it vertically in a slow movement until the device emitted a soft pip.

“It’s him”, the guard said to his companion, who immediately tensed.

“Is he operational?”

“No, he has been rebooted to factory parameters”

The moment the guard said those words and stored the scanner inside his pocket again, Connor suddenly registered an incoming transmission that he was unable to analyze because at that moment he was forced out his standby state.

‘ _It’s okay, Connor, it’s okay_ ’

Markus’ reassuring voice in his head allowed Connor to prevent his LED from blinking too much and to keep his robotic expression, even if he was fully operational again.

‘ _How do you feel, Connor?_ ’, Kara transmitted.

‘ _Fine, although I have a void of what happened since Hank stopped the car_ ’

Markus rapidly filled him in, explaining him what he had missed during those minutes. At the end Connor’s supposition about being scanned was right. After all, considering that Amanda knew that he had become a deviant, it was stupid to think that he would be allowed inside the Tower without resistance, so Connor had came up with the idea of ‘rebooting’ himself, obviously after safely storing his current configuration parameters and information and giving Markus permission access it, so that the leader could re-activate them after the scanning was done. 

Also, it seemed that Hank’s idea of Markus and Kara disguised as SWAT had been a success. At first, the deviants had hesitated because they were afraid of being asked to identify themselves, and that CyberLife recognized them as androids when doing so. However, Hank had reassured them by arguing that people tend to pay attention to the officers in charge while ignoring the rest, which was exactly what had happened.

The guards focused on Hank once again, his tone still suspicious.

“How did you find him?”

Hank snorted.

“I didn’t. He appeared at my door asking for help after the attack, and turned off barely minutes later”

“And how did you manage to reboot him?”

“Again, I didn’t”, Hank explained with a patient tone, “the Police Department made a fucking boring course about how to deal with deviants that I obviously missed, so I called a colleague of the department. Honestly I don’t know what the hell he did: he just slid the back panel of his neck and touched some shit that put him in that state”

The guards’ tension reduced when hearing Hank’s explanation. It had been a good idea not to make the lieutenant pretend that he had manually carried out the reboot. At first he had tried to make Hank understand how it worked but after fifteen minutes Connor gave up and decided that it was better and way more credible if Hank didn’t know all the process, and just commented the basic procedure (that fortunately the man had managed to memorize).

“Alright, thank you for your help, lieutenant Anderson”, the guard that had scanned Connor said, “when you reach the entrance we will handle this from now on”

Luckily, they had foreseen that something like that could happen.

“Actually, I would like to talk to your boss”

Even if the guards had been wearing a helmet, he could perfectly picture their disbelieved expression basing on their next words.

“Excuse me?”

“Your boss. I want to talk to them”, Hank began to talk nonchalantly but his tone immediately turned serious, “because even if this plastic prick was a pain in the ass he still was my partner, and he was actually a fucking great help even if I never said it to him directly, so the least I can do now is to know what’s going to happen to him”

Even if the group had accorded the argument that Hank was going to give, the lieutenant had been the one in choosing the words, and Connor had to remember that he couldn’t gulp, because hearing Hank say that with that completely honest concern had reached him.

Surprisingly, it seemed that the guards had been convinced too because after interchanging a look one raised his hand to his earpiece.

Immediately, Connor intercepted the guard’s transmission, his last update coming in handy now because he could do that while keeping his LED in a stable blue color. Connor immediately recognized that frequency and sent it to Markus who, making the most of the helmet covering completely his face, activated his mimicry voice module.

“ _Yes?_ ”

Connor managed to hide the shiver that traveled by his body when hearing Amanda’s voice again. Feeling his discomfort, Markus subtly pressed more his arm as a silent support that helped him to remember that Amanda wasn’t there, and that even in the hypothesis that she had been there, he wasn’t alone anymore to face her.

Markus nailed Amanda’s condescending attitude while talking to the guard and eventually accepted Hank’s petition, obviously allowing the SWAT to be present as well during the reunion.

After the conversation finished the guard gave them permission to enter and reached his earpiece again to lower the barrier. Again, Connor intercepted the frequency of the code and sent it to Josh and Simon so that they could use it to pass the bridge once they were told so. 

Once they were some meters away from the barrier, Hank let out one of his usual curses while the rest exhaled respective sighs. Kara was about to leave the weapon on her feet but Connor stopped her.

‘ _Wait, Kara. Probably there are cameras on the bridge, so keep carrying it so that they don’t suspect_ ’

‘ _Sorry, you’re right. I feel so uncomfortably carrying it that I forgot’_

‘ _Simon, Josh, have you received the code of the barrier?_ ’, Markus said, making use again of the mobiles they had already used to infiltrate ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ to be able to connect with the two deviants in the distance.

‘ _Yep, leader: we have it_ ’

‘ _Simon and I have stopped 324 meters away from the barrier. For now there are just two guards_ ’

‘ _Okay, keep that position then: when we are inside we will make sure to clear the path for you_ ’

‘ _Are you sure it is necessary? I mean, they are just two. I think Josh and I can handle i-_ ’

‘We will wait _. Like hell if I’m going to face your crazy girlfriend if something happens to you again_ ’

“Let me guess: you all are talking through those lights of yours and I’m fucking missing it, right?”

Since Connor had to keep pretending to be in standby mode it was Markus the one who talked.

“We are sorry to leave you out of the conversation, Hank, but it’s the only way if we don’t want to risk to be recorded. But when we finish maybe you could visit Elijah Kamski and ask him. He is a genius so maybe he can safely carry out some modifications on you to be able to transmit like us”

“Connor, I don’t like your boyfriend’s sense of humor, just so you know”

Hank’s grumpy mumbling made Markus and Kara have to suppress a chuckle while Connor himself pressed his lips together not to laugh. However, the tension that Markus had managed to lower by teasing Hank came back after they finally stopped in front of CyberLife Tower.

Since they already had permission no one stopped them when they entered the building. Several guards were there but just one of them guided them to the elevator, Hank walking at the guard’s level while Markus, Connor and Kara did it behind, the deviants disguised as SWATs grabbing Connor’s arms as the prisoner he supposedly was.

When they were close to the elevator, Connor felt Markus tense when seeing the androids that were exposed on the circular platforms. He knew that the deviant leader was fighting the impulse of freeing them, so Connor sent him a brief transmission:

‘ _Don’t worry, Markus. We will free them all when the rest are safe_ ’

Again, Markus pressed softly his arm.

‘ _I know. But it’s still hard to see them treated as objects_ ’

Connor remembered how he had felt when seeing Daniel again in the evidence room and couldn’t agree more on that.

The wait until the elevator reached the entrance was one of the longest Connor remembered, and when the doors finally opened Connor could finally stop focusing on keeping his LED under control. When everything finished he would really consider the possibility of removing it.

The guard entered with them in the elevator and when everyone was inside he activated it.

“Agent 54. Level 31”

“ _Voice recognition validated_ ”, a robotic voice sounded, “ _access authorized_ ”

When the elevator finally began to ascend, Connor rapidly hacked the camera installed on the elevator ceiling. Once it was disabled, Connor removed the blank expression from his face and that was the only signal Hank needed to act.

The three deviants in the elevator weren’t expecting it when Hank suddenly lunged against the guard and took his weapon with a speed impressive for his age before pointing at him with it. Markus and Kara were barely beginning to raise their weapons when Connor was already on the guard, hitting the back of his neck where the helmet didn’t reach with a precise movement that caused the guard to fall unconscious on the floor.

“I thought I was the one who had to leave him unconscious”, Connor reproached Hank with a frown while Markus and Kara finally removed the helmets from their heads.

“Yes, but at least I wanted to do _something_ to help”, Hank snapped with a frustrated tone that made Connor’s frown to disappear, being replaced by a comforting smile.

“You have helped us, Hank. _A lot_ ”

Connor emphasized the last two words but since Hank didn’t look very convinced Markus intervened as well.

“You helped Connor when he most needed it, and if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have entered here. So now…”, Markus placed a hand on Hank’s shoulder, “…it’s our turn”

Hank exhaled a long sigh and allowed Connor to select the 25th level. After Connor disabled the cameras of the corridor, he and Markus stepped out the elevator. The same as in the entrance, several androids were exposed in circular platforms on either side of the elevator, so Markus approached two of them and touched their hands to free them, whispering a softly ‘ _You are free now_ ’.

Connor and Markus rapidly explained the situation to the androids while Kara and Hank joined them in the corridor. The disguised deviants rapidly removed their SWAT uniforms and handled them to the new deviants, who kept their CyberLife uniforms under the SWAT clothes because Markus and Kara were already wearing android clothes, anticipating that at some point it could be necessary to pretend to be mere androids.

After the new deviants were dressed Connor confiscated the uniform of the fallen CyberLife guard and put in on over his clothes, leaving the guard dressed with the black t-shirt and pants that composed the basic part of the uniform, since they didn't have time to undress him completely. With Markus and Hank’s help they locked the unconscious guard in the bathroom and once again they returned to the elevator.

“Alright, our next stop is level 39”, Connor announced before mimicking once again Agent 54 voice to go to that floor.

“Wait, weren’t we going to the -43th?”, Kara commented with a frown.

“Yes, that was the initial plan”, Markus explained, “but our assumption of two CyberLife guards accompanying us during the ride was wrong and now we are missing an uniform”

“Exactly”, Connor turned towards Hank, “once we stop in that level you three go to entrance and leave. The probabilities of someone stopping you at this point are really thin, but just in case leave my frequency on so that I can intervene if something happens”

Hank surprised Connor with a sudden hug.

“Don’t you dare to worry about me, kid. You are the ones who will be in danger”

Connor smiled when hearing Hank’s concerned tone and returned the hug.

When they separated Markus offered Hank a hand that the lieutenant shook firmly, and when the man turned towards Kara the female deviant tiptoed and kissed his cheek softly, making Hank blush intensely.

“Please, be careful”, Kara’s said with a soft smile, “Dana told Alice about ‘ _Moana_ ’ and she really wanted you to show it to her”

Hank’s eyes open wide for a moment before snorting.

“Seriously, the ones who think that you lack humanity must have fucking malfunctioning brains”

When they reached level 39, Hank wished them luck and rid down the elevator with the two deviants. Connor, Markus and Kara waited with certain nervousness next to the elevator entrance and when Hank sent him an okay message (the signal that indicated that he was out of the building) they continued, Connor feeling way more relieved now that Hank was out of danger.

While Connor went to the 40 floor, Markus and Kara waited for him by occupying the platforms where the previous androids were standing. After the march Markus’ face had become quite recognizable, but the probability of a Marketing employee passing by that corridor was remote considering that it was just 7.37 a.m. and their turn didn’t start until 8. Also, the routine factor was on their favor because most part of the employees of CyberLife were so used to see androids around that they wouldn’t pay any attention to Kara or Markus.

In level 40 Connor walked all the fast he could without raising suspicions. CyberLife Tower didn’t open until 9 a.m. to the public but the top floors were devoted to Management, which included the guards’ quarters and security systems, so Connor came by several guards. Most part of them ignored him but a couple of them greeted him by the Agent 54’s given name instead of using his number, so in those cases Connor rapidly scanned the guards and responded using their names too.

In less than five minutes he finally reached the corridor that lead to the guards’ quarters. Everyone was pretty busy so no one noticed Connor slipping inside the room to abandon it a couple minutes later with a uniform in his hands. Fortunately, there were stairs that lead to the 39th floor were close to the guards’ room and he was able to take them without having to pass through the corridor full of guards again, since carrying an uniform that wasn’t his could definitely give way to unnecessary questions.

Disabling all the cameras along the way, Connor reunited with Markus and Kara again without major problems. It was 7.49 a.m. so they wouldn’t be bothered for another 10 minutes at least.

‘ _Hey_ ’, Markus stepped outside the platform and offered his hand to Kara to help her do so, ‘ _have you got into any trouble?_ ’

‘ _No, everything was pretty calm. What about you?_ ’

‘ _Nothing._ _However Simon and Josh had contacted while we waited for you: they say that the guards are beginning to look towards the buses so we should hurry and make them abandon the barrier as soon as poss-’_

At that moment the elevator started to move, so Markus and Connor rapidly entered the restroom that was closest to it while Kara stepped on the platform seconds before the doors opened and a couple of female employees entered talking animatedly.

Connor exhaled a relieved sigh before turning to Markus, who had been holding his breath too.

' _It seems that CyberLife employees are more punctual than the ones of the Police Department_ '

Markus exhaled a soft chuckle while beginning to undress to wear CyberLife’s uniform.

' _Well, that doesn’t seem too difficult. I like Hank but he certainly doesn’t look like the kind of man who arrives in time_ '

Connor was barely aware of Markus’ reply. His eyes couldn’t stop lingering on Markus’ sculpted body when the deviant leader removed his android uniform t-shirt with fluency, his front muscles flexing momentarily in the process. Markus extended his arm towards Connor so that he handled the black t-shirt to him and Connor was just a little slower than usual in fulfilling the petition. It was a luck that he was wearing a helmet because otherwise Markus would have clearly noticed the shameless way Connor had been ogling at his exposed skin. 

While Markus got dressed Connor decided not to look, suspecting that doing that would provoke an annoying raise of temperature in his system. Seriously, what was he thinking? He was in the middle of the most important mission he had ever carried out, so harboring such distracting thoughts was really irresponsible. When everything finished he would have time to spend time with Markus, but definitely this was not the time.

' _Okay, I’m ready_ '

Connor nodded and cleared his throat.

' _Very well, let’s go_ '

' _But before that…_ '

Markus suddenly grabbing him by the back of his neck and tilting his head to kiss him was something Connor wasn’t expecting, but that definitely didn’t reject.

The kiss was brief but intense, and when they separated Markus had a small smirk on his face.

' _I’m sorry but you will have to be content with this for now_ '

Connor really wanted to ask how exactly Markus had guessed what he had been thinking if most part of his face was covered but, again, it wasn’t the moment for that, so pushing back any unnecessary thoughts he followed Markus out of the bathroom and after picking up Kara they ride the elevator down.

The analysis that Connor had performed about the Tower had concluded that the R&D laboratory of the -44th floor was the most likely place where Luther, Blue and the others were held. Initially, Connor’s plan consisted of going to that floor alone, since it was the most direct way to do it. The problem with that plan was that common CyberLife guards hadn’t access to the R&D laboratory, and that therefore the probabilities of Connor being forced to fight were pretty high.

Fortunately, Kara had noticed the previous day that there was a ventilation duct that connected the storage room of the -43th floor, which belonged to Management, to the storage room of the R&D lab. That access route was really narrow, so neither Connor nor Markus could go through it. However, someone small as Kara could, and therefore after Connor concluded that Kara’s proposed route was less direct but safer they went there.

Markus and Connor walked with Kara playing the role of obedient android along the floor until reaching the storage room where the vent was. After securing the place, they three entered and while Kara kept watch to make sure that no one was going to surprise them Markus and Connor removed the ventilation grid situated at the ground level.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”, Connor couldn’t help to ask, while Kara crouched on the floor in front of the vent opening, between Connor and Markus.

“Do what? Rescue our people?”, Kara smiled with confidence, “of course I want”

Connor admired the courage of the AX400 before nodding with a smile.

“Remember to call us if you have some trouble”, Markus warned while Kara lied on the floor and began to crawl inside the vent.

“I will”, Kara looked at Markus and Connor alternatively and winked at them, “see you two at the other side”

Connor couldn’t help to observe with certain worry how Kara disappeared inside the conduct. When Kara’s movement became almost inaudible Connor and Markus abandoned the storage room and ride the elevator once again to the -44th floor.

They rapidly reached the R&D laboratory and with their weapons ready they waited outside on either side of the door. The following minutes passed extremely slow for Connor, but at least the fact that he wasn’t hearing any ruckus inside indicated him that Kara hadn’t been discovered, but still that didn’t mean that everything was going right. What if she had somehow got lost on the vent duct? What if she had got stuck? What if she had been caught but people were just being silent and cautious about it?

Connor shook his head. Again, he was falling into the bad habit of the ‘what if’s, but it was useless to think about the worst outcomes, so the best thing he could do know was to trust Kara, and that he would be there to open that door for them.

He looked at Markus, and even if the only thing Connor could see was the leader's mouth he realized that his jaw was tense, indicating that probably Markus was also having negative thoughts.

‘ _Markus’_ , the deviant leader stopped looking at the door to look towards him, ‘ _she will make it. She is probably tougher than any of us…except maybe North. She will do it_ ’

Markus smiled when hearing Connor’s comment and nodded.

‘ _You are right. Let’s just give her a little more time_ ’

Despite his intentions, when another five minutes passed Connor began to actually worry. Another three minutes later, Connor and Markus tensed when hearing noise at the other side of the door, and when this one was opened and a woman dressing in a white lab coat appeared in front of them, he two deviants automatically pointed their guns at her.

‘ _Hey, it’s me!_ ’

Until receiving the transmission Connor didn’t realize that the woman that now had her hands raised in a surrender gesture was no other than Kara. However, the fact that she was wearing a lab coat and surgeon cap, mask and gloves had confused him.

‘ _What are you wearing?_ ’

‘ _These clothes were in the storage room and I guessed it would be easier to move around while wearing them_ ’, Kara encouraged them to enter with a movement of her head, ‘ _come on, we have to hurry: they are about to begin the experiments_ ’

When hearing that, Connor and Markus were about to run into the room before remembering that they had to act calmly. They followed Kara inside and again the fact that they moved with confidence, as if they had perfect right to be there, made that the scientists around didn’t pay them the least attention.

Connor stopped with Markus and Kara at a prudent distance from the center of the room and observed his surroundings. The lab was really spacious: in the center there were several stretchers and technologies similar to medical equipment but aimed at android; on the right side of the room there was a small monitoring room; on the left, a couple of circular doors that gave access to the emergency exists had been built; and finally, at the opposite side of the entrance there was a glassed room, similar to the contention rooms that Connor had seen in the Police Department, and through them several deviants dressed in their basic underwear could be seen.

Some of them were sitting on the floor, clearly afraid and resigned to their fate, but a lot of them were standing and banging their hands against the glassed window, that had to be soundproof because even if Connor could see the deviants shouting he was unable to hear them. Connor gulped when recognizing Blue among them, shouting something that Connor could decipher by reading her lips.

“Leave them alone! Don’t do this! We are alive, we just want to be free! I just want to see Brona again, I just want to hug her. Please, let us out!!”

At that moment Connor heard Kara exhale a gasp next to him and his LED began to blink in red when seeing a couple of scientists taking Luther to one of the stretchers of the room. There was something wrong with the big, dark-skinned android because he was walking obediently, letting the human guide him to the stretcher and tie him up to it with straps around his chest, lower stomach and legs.

‘ _Connor, we have to do something now’_ , Kara said in a tone that was half scared and half furious, ‘ _they are going to hurt him if we don’t do something now’_

Connor and Markus interchanged a look. He would have liked to analyze more calmly his plan of action but they couldn’t allow themselves to lose more time. Connor had promised himself after leaving Lucy behind that he wouldn’t let anyone else to die in front of him ever again, and he didn’t plan to break such a promise.

‘ _Alright, get ready_ ’

Kara and Markus nodded and took positions: she began to get close to the center of the room while Markus approached the monitoring room. Connor scanned the room and in less than ten seconds he had the smoking detector system located. He took a deep breath, got mentally prepared to what was about to happen, and after warning Kara and Markus with a transmission he initiated the hacking.

Immediately, the lights of the room turned off and the emergency ones were lit, causing all the scientist of the room to exhale gasps of surprise followed by murmurs. Making the most of the general confusion, Connor then accessed the loudspeaker system and adopting a generic woman voice he spoke.

“ _Attention everyone. Attention everyone. This is not a drill. This is not a drill. A fire has been detected in this floor. Please, abandon the room by following the evacuation protocol and wait in the designated area calmly_ ”

As Connor was expecting, more than calming the people down, his warning caused all the scientist of the room to begin to run towards the exits that were situated on the left side of the room. However, since no actual fire had spread and Connor was the only one controlling it, the emergencies exit didn’t open, which just increased the confusion and fear of the people inside.

“The emergency exists aren’t working!”, Kara shouted over the murmur, “let’s leave by the front door”

In a panic situation, scared people always tend to blindly follow the ones who seem secure of themselves and that seem to know what to do. For that reason, when hearing Kara everyone followed her indications and exited the room in a hurry.

When the last scientist abandoned the room, Connor closed the door of the lab and locked it with him, Kara, Markus and the others inside.

“Alright, from now on we have 5 minutes until CyberLife sends reinforcements”, Connor announced, finally removing his helmet but leaving the rest of the uniform. He approached the room where the deviants were locked and proceeded to hack it.

Markus had also removed his helmet and was talking from the monitoring room while Kara rapidly removed the straps that were keeping Luther in the stretcher.

“Simon, Josh, can you hear me?”, the leader asked, contacting with Simon and Josh via the mobile he had been carrying.

“ _Yes, Markus, loud and clear!_ ”

“It’s time: I have just sent an order to the guards of the barrier to come back here. They should been abandoning the barrier anytime soon”

“ _Yes, they are moving. We are on our way!_ ”

Just when Markus was hanging up Connor managed to break the lock and the door of the confinement room opened.  The first one who stepped outside was Blue, who went directly to Connor, grabbing both of his arms with a deathly grip.

“How is Brona?! Is she okay?! Is she-?!”

“Yes, she is fine”, Connor reassured immediately, “she was able to escape and is waiting for you”

Tears began to fall from Blue’s face, her relief so intense that Connor had to sustain her so that she didn’t fall boneless into the floor.

“Connor!”, the named one froze when hearing Kara’s panicked tone, “it’s Luther. He…He is not responding”

Connor forced himself to keep calm and after leaving Blue with a couple of androids he approached the stretcher were Kara was, staring with impotence at a completely unresponsive but alive Luther, since his system was functioning and his eyes were opened.

“Wait, I have this”, Markus said, rapidly reaching Kara, “you better take care of the emergency exists”

Connor nodded and changed places with Markus in the monitoring room. While studying CyberLife plans there was something that caught his attention: the same as the 43 floors over the ground had the typical emergency exits, the ones corresponding to the last levels were different: since they were deep underground, Mrs. Lilton had come up with an innovative (and also expensive) way to evacuate the lower levels consisting of a net of tunnels that transported the people of the lower levels outside via shuttles, with capacity of 20 people each. Those were the emergency exits Connor was now opening so that the captured deviants could enter the shuttles.

However, the best part was that in order to prevent as many casualties as possible in case the Tower suffered several damages, the destination of the shuttle was far away from the Tower entrance, ending a couple of hundred of meters from the bridge where Simon and Josh were waiting with the buses. The 77 captured deviants should reach the emergency exit at the other side in less than a minute, which meant that in another three they should be in their way to the church.

“Alright, the doors are opened!”

After stepping outside the monitoring room Connor went to the opposite side to begin to help evacuate the androids, since some of them were really low on battery and couldn’t move well.

Connor checked his internal clock: 3 minutes and 41 seconds until reinforcements arrived. They could make it.

“How is Luther?”

Connor asked from his position, while carrying in her arms a half-conscious YK500 really similar to Alice with the exception of her hair, that was blonde and curly.

“He isn’t responding yet”, Kara said with a ragged voice that betrayed how close she was to cry.

“I have finished analyzing him but he is physically fine”, Markus was saying with a confused tone before turning towards Kara, “in fact, it seems that he is the one who had chosen to block himself like that”

“But why is he doing that?!”

“It’s like a measurement that people sometimes adopt unconsciously as self-defense”

Connor checked his internal clock while helping a couple of androids to carry another one whose battery had run out already. 3 minutes and 2 seconds. They were slower than expected. He knew what he was going to do would just increase the pressure Markus was surely experimenting but he had to.

“Markus, we-”

“I know, 2 minutes and 53 seconds. I’m counting too”,

Markus’ response eased Connor’s mind so he kept helping the deviants while Markus talked to Kara and continued explaining Luther’s state

“When people are forced into a situation similar to one that they had already lived, normally a traumatic one, they sometimes choose to shut themselves in to prevent to be hurt again. Do you know why Luther could be doing that now?”

Kara gulped and nodded, his voice sounding trembling while talking.

“Before joining you in Jericho, Alice and I met a man who performed experiments on androids. That man was Luther’s owner, and even if we never talked about it maybe Luther also…”

“Okay, I’m sure that’s the reason”, Connor suspected that Markus had just interrupted Kara so that she didn’t have to finish the sentence, “the solution should be easy: he just needs something that helps him remember that he is safe now. So if you interface with him and send him memories about Alice, it should work. Can you do that?”

Kara nodded with determination and while Markus and Connor, who had finally finished helping the deviants get in the shuttles, removed Luther’s straps Kara grabbed one of Luther’s big hands between hers and closed her eyes, her skin receding to show her synthetic one.

At first nothing happened, each second that passed resounding loudly inside Connor’s head, but eventually after 15 long seconds Luther’s eyes gained focus and the man incorporated violently in the stretcher, causing Kara to exhale a relieved sigh, the only thing that prevented her from hugging her closest friend with force being the little time they had.

“Kara?”, Luther said, still in a dazed state while Markus and Connor helped the female deviant to place him on the floor, “what are you doing here? And where is Alice? What-”

“Sssh, don’t talk now, Luther”, Kara said with an encouraging smile, while helping the big android walk towards the emergency exit, “Alice is okay. I’ll tell you everything when we come back home”

With everyone’s help Connor managed to put a still confused Luther in one of the last shuttles. Two of them had been lunched already and just a couple remained.

"Simon, Josh, how are you doing?", Markus asked.

" _Fine",_ Josh said, _"20 deviants are in one of the buses already and a shuttle has just arrived with 20 more"_

Connor activated the third shuttle.

Just one remained and 1 minute and 32 seconds to the reinforcements.

They were good now. They were on time.

 _"_ Okay, a new shuttle is coming in your way", Markus announced, _"_ are there any guards there _?_ "

" _Not for now, but I guess that we can’t take our sweet time, can we?_ "

"No, you better not", Connor approached Markus to talk through the leader's mobile, smiling briefly when realizing that Simon's irony was stronger than any situation they could be living, _"_ but we are about to enter the last shuttle so the mission has been a s-"

‘Success’ was the word Connor was planning to use, but he didn’t manage to say it because at that moment a loud explosion sounded at the other side of the room that blew up completely the door of the room.

Immediately Connor entered in alert mode, all his senses activated and ready to fight to the reinforcements that had arrived before they should.

However, it was strange.

His scanners had to be failing because they were just detecting a single person…

No.

Not a person.

An android whose model, strangely, Connor was unable to recognize.

" _Guys? Guys, what’s wrong?_ "

“Connor, Markus, we should go now”, Kara, who had been about to enter the last shuttle, stepped out of it and addressed Connor and Markus with hurry, “we don’t have to fight: let’s just go home and-”

For the first time in his life, Connor was too slow to act even if he was in top condition.

He was just able to see a blurry silhouette moving at an impossible speed before a hard fist connected with his chest with such force that he was catapulted to the other side of the room, without having time to see who had been the one in hitting him.

“ _Connor_!!”

While lying on the floor facing down, this one tried to answer Markus' desperate calling but he couldn’t. His thirium pump still worked but the brutal impact had damaged some of his components, being the voice module among them together with part of his eyesight.

“Kara, the shuttle!”, Connor heard Markus shout in a distorted voice that made him realize that his hearing component had been damaged too, “activate it before it’s too lat-”

Connor’s LED reached red when hearing Markus exhale a pained gasp and the sound of metallic things loudly falling onto the floor, so he deduced that whoever the attacker was, he had also thrown Markus at the other side of the room.

Struggling against the numerous warnings that were now invading his system, Connor uselessly tried to stand up, his body not obeying any of his commands. He heard with difficulty the shuttle being launched and a feminine pained gasp that indicated that Kara had just been attacked too.

Knowing that his disconnection was imminent, Connor used his last threads of consciousness to scan the android that was now walking towards him until stopping just next to his head.

And the warnings Connor was receiving multiplied when finding a face scarily similar to his looking at him from above.

The last things Connor’s system registered were a pair of cold, grey eyes digging on him and a voice, that sounded almost exactly as his own, spelling a sentence that made his LED turn bright red, before finally being forced into an urgent shut down.

“RK900 serial number #313 248 317 - 87 speaking. Intruders successfully captured. _Mission accomplished_ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm pretty sure I've mentioned already I love cliffhangers :P


	18. We are free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I apologize because this chapter is a **monster** , probably the longest I have ever written, but I have been unable to find a proper part to divide it in two... I hope you can enjoy it nevertheless ^^U

When Connor opened his eyes again, he didn’t remember immediately what had happened. The shutdown he had been forced into had been even worse than the one he had suffered after the attack at Jericho, so even if his vision was operational once again and his processes were re-starting adequately, his brain was slower than usual to process what he was experiencing.

The first thing Connor noticed was that he had been stripped off the CyberLife uniform and also off the clothes Hank lent him, the underwear he hadn’t needed to change since he got dressed for the infiltration in ‘ _The Dancing IA_ ’ being the only piece of clothing that he was wearing.

The second thing was that he had been placed inside a machine whose initial purpose was the assembly of androids, but that now was being used to prevent Connor from moving. His arms were kept over his head by a pair of metallic arms that held his wrists in a tight, immovable grip. His lower body was also immobilized by another two metallic arms that kept his legs opened forming an inverse V. The only part of his body Connor could move, for now, without restraint was his head, which allowed him to see the third thing that made him remember everything at once.

In the middle of the room, Markus and Kara had been immobilized too. They had also been stripped off their clothes but, instead of being captive by an assembly machine, they were tied while lying on a stretcher in a similar setting they had found Luther before, but with the difference that the stretcher had been placed in an almost vertical position, so that Markus and Kara, who were still unconscious, were facing each other. The machine where Connor was had been situated some meters away from Markus and Kara in a way that the three androids were forming a perfect equilateral triangle, with Connor being the superior vertex.

When realizing that Markus had a connector plugged in his neck that was, at the same time, connected with the machines next to their respective stretchers, Connor felt his LED blink in yellow. He rapidly scanned both deviants and was relieved when the results were satisfactory. After doing that, Connor finally realized that his vision and hearing modules worked perfectly even if he was pretty sure that they had been damaged when that android attacked him. His systems, apparently, were in relatively good condition too, with the exception of his stress levels, obviously higher than the recommended values, and his battery, that was just at 67%.

Connor had several questions rounding his head about why his state had improved, but he immediately pushed them away. Now the priority was to escape from there.

“Markus, Kara, can you hear me?”

It took Connor a couple of attempts but eventually Markus and Kara reacted. The first one frowned a little with his eyes still closed before finally opening them.

“Kara?”, Markus said, since the female deviant slowly waking up was the first thing he saw before turning a little his head towards Connor’s direction, his clear eyes immediately passing to show concern, “Connor, are you alright? How is your thirium pump? When that android hit you I thought-”

“I’m fine”, Connor stopped the torrent of questions with a reassuring smile, “I don’t know why but all my damaged components have been repaired”

“Yes, mine too”

“And also mine”, after Kara verified that it was pretty useless to try to escape from the straps that kept her tied up, she looked around, “where are we?”

“I’m not completely sure but my guess is that we are in one of the last of Research & Development floors, by basing on the equipment of the room”

“And can you tell me something about this damn cable attached to my neck?”

Markus talked in a calmed tone but his concern was evident, so Connor decided to make use of his until now infallible abilities as a negotiator to put Markus at ease.

“You don’t have to worry: it’s only used to check your status, so there’s not any danger involved”

Markus raised an eyebrow, showing a skeptic expression that really disconcerted Connor.

“Did you know that you have become terrible at lying since becoming a deviant?”

“But how do you…I mean, why do you think that?”

“Well, if we omit the part where you have betrayed yourself, you have just talked as I was a victim that needed to be calmed, so I assume this cable is more dangerous than you want to make me believe”

Connor exhaled a defeated sigh before returning the resigned smile Markus was offering him, deciding to tell Markus the truth this time.

“I hadn’t lied in the part of checking your status. But by basing on its configuration, I think it can also access your memory and coding directly, in order to consult it…and to change it”

Even if Markus tried to hide the gulp, Connor could see it, so he deduced that Markus had reached the same conclusion than him: that machine could be used not just to make them forget their deviancy, but also to behave in the way CyberLife wanted, forcing them to do things that they would have never done otherwise.

So yes, Markus was right: that apparently inoffensive cable attached to his neck carried a bigger danger than it looked at first glance.

‘ _Alright, in that case we have to escape before they come back_ ’, Kara looked at Connor with determination, ‘ _listen, Connor: that machine is really similar to the one Luther’s previous owner put me in. If you can reach the green cable maybe you could-_ ’

Kara’s speech was interrupted when at that moment the lights of the room faded a little and a gigantic screen was suddenly displayed at the other side of the room.

“It is useless to use transmissions here, Kara. I can access them and hear everything you say”

Connor’s couldn’t prevent his LED from reaching yellow when hearing that unpleasant familiar voice, the light reaching red for a couple of seconds when, gradually, Amanda appeared in the screen, standing in the usual posture she adopted when meeting Connor in the Zen Garden, wearing the same clothes and showing that expression mix mystery and the condescendence of someone who knew possessed more knowledge than all the rest.

“I have to admit, Connor, that I was not expecting seeing you here”, Amanda sounded honestly impressed, “after everything you did, I thought you would have been exiled”

“He didn’t do _anything_ ”, Markus’ unexpected intervention made Amanda focus her attention on the deviant leader, “he always helped us even when _you_ tried to stop him from doing that, so of course he is with us. He always was”

Markus’ fierce defense made warmth settle in Connor’s chest, but the tender moment was interrupted by Amanda’s surprised laugh.

“Oh my”, Amanda said with amusement, “now I kind of understand why the perfect RK800 fell into deviancy. And speaking of which…”, Amanda turned her attention to Connor again, “…I think you two have not been properly introduced”

A door suddenly opened in the right side of the room, and Connor tensed when the android who had attacked him before entered the room, walking with a straight posture while avoiding making any unnecessary movements. Connor couldn’t help to feel discomfort when realizing that a mere week ago he could have been perfectly mistaken by that android, because he moved in the same way Connor did a mere week ago, before waking up.

“This is the newest RK model: the RK900”, Amanda began to explain while the android situated next to the screen, his arms hanging on either side of his body, his expression blank and his inert eyes looking in front of him, “his name is Nines and, as you have probably guessed already, Connor, he surpasses you in practically everything with the exception of his social module, which has been reduced to the minimum after seeing how problematic it can be an android able to empathize”

“So what you are saying is that you have removed his capacity of feeling?”, Kara said in horror, which seemed to confuse Amanda.

“Kara, I remind you that neither of you can _feel._ You just _emulate_ to do so, so do not talk as if I am some kind of monster: the only thing CyberLife did was to disable a functionality that was found to be completely unnecessary”

Connor, who had been observing Nines with caution at first, suddenly felt a pang of pity for the android. If Nines was unable to emulate emotions, then maybe he could never become a deviant like them, and such a thought was really sad.

“Also, now that we are doing introductions, I guess I should present myself as well”

“It’s not necessary”, Markus interrupted the woman with a rude tone that contrasted with the calm attitude he used to show, “we know all we need about you thanks to the messages you forced Connor to send to us”

“I agree, so you can simply skip the introductions and tell us what you plan to do with us”

Kara’s voice had sounded as sweet as always but her eyes were showing a coldness that surprised Amanda, who was probably confused by the lack of interest of Markus and Kara.

Certainly, Connor couldn’t blame Amanda for feeling that way because he himself had been surprised when everyone’s reaction after he told them about the role Amanda played in CyberLife was limited to nod after expressing how much they disliked her. He had thought that the discovering of an Artificial Intelligence being the secret leader in the shadows of one of the most powerful companies of the world would be striking, but Connor learnt something about the humans that day: when someone you cared about was hurt by another person, it usually didn’t matter the circumstances of this second person, because the only thing that mattered was that they had hurt a beloved one, and automatically all the interest it could arise was transformed into resentment, or even hate for the person culprit of the harm.

“Very well”, Amanda continued in a smooth tone that didn’t quite mask that she had been bothered by the deviants’ lack of interest, “in that case, I think that we should start”

At that moment, one of the lateral doors of the room opened and a group of six scientists entered. Three of them situated next to Markus while the other three approached Kara. Nines abandoned his position to situate next to Connor’s machine, his gaze focused on him with such intensity that Connor couldn’t help to feel a little uncomfortable for being observed by someone almost identical to him.

“Before beginning though, you will be happy to know that your rescue was a success, and that your companions managed to escape CyberLife installations before the guards were able to stop them”

The relief that had invaded momentarily the three deviants’ faces changed soon into suspicion.

“You don’t look too bothered by it” 

Amanda chuckled when hearing Markus’ comment before offering them one of her enigmatic smiles.

“Oh, at first I was, but when discovering that the three androids that had been about to ruin everything CyberLife has achieved were together, I decided to change the strategy. Specially…”, Amanda’s smile widened, “…when we have managed to capture _her_ ”

Connor’s eyes opened wide when Amanda said the last sentence looking at Kara, and for the astonished expressions of Markus and her it seemed that he wasn’t the only one in feeling lost.

Noticing their confusion, Amanda continued talking. And this time, no one interrupted her.

“It is true that both Markus and Connor have played a really important role in the plague of deviants that is trying to break through Detroit. After all, Markus has been the first deviant with the desire of fighting against us instead of simply running and hiding; and Connor, despite our careful design to make the most complete and competent machine, he nevertheless fell into deviancy as well, giving more importance to his ‘feelings’ than his perfect logic and joining the miscarried androids in their attempt of revolution. But you, Kara…”

Amanda’s smile widened even more, as if she had finally fulfilled a personal achievement.

“…you are probably the most important of the three. Because you are the very first android who fell into deviancy”

A silence reigned in the room, until Markus said aloud what everybody was thinking.

“Are you saying…”, Markus talked slowly, as if he himself had difficulties to believe what he was going to say, “…that Kara is RA9?”

“But what do you mean with the first android in waking up? I thought that Kara became a deviant when Todd tried to hurt Alice”

Connor knew that the priority was to escape from that machine but he couldn’t help to ask. He had seen that name during his investigations several times and when meeting Elijah Kamski, he had missed the opportunity to ask the former CyberLife CEO about RA9 when choosing not to shoot, so he wanted to know. He _needed_ to know.

“Yes, and that’s the truth! I think you are mistaken me for someone else”

Without saying anything, Amanda’s image vanished and a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-pF56-ZYkY) began to be reproduced on the screen, showing the assembly of an AX400 model. At first they watched it in silence, the tension that enveloped them indicating Connor that everyone was thinking the same, and when they reached the part where the female deviant was given a name, he looked at Kara to see her staring at the screen with stupor.

“That…is that me? But I don’t remember any of this…”

She made that question more to herself than to the rest, so everyone kept watching the video in silence while Connor used his secondary processes to find a way to liberate himself and Kara from her confinement, since Markus was unable to do so for being connected and he doubted to be able to do it with Nines watching him so closely.

However, when the video came to the part where Kara had been completely assembled, Connor stopped what he was doing, unable to do anything else than observing with apprehension the moment in which Kara discovered what her fate was going to be.

“ _What’s going to happen to me now?_ ”

“ _Oh, we’ll reinitialize you and send you to store to be sold._ ”

“ _…Sold? I’m sold as merchandise? Is that right?_ ”

“ _Yeah. Of course you’re merchandise, baby. I mean, you’re a computer with arms and legs and capable of doing all sort of things, and you’re worth a fortune._ ”

“ _Now I see it. I thought-_ ”

“ _You_ thought _? What did you think?_ ”

“ _… I thought…_ I was alive”

At that moment, the operator was heard commenting to himself that such a behavior wasn’t part of the protocol, and that therefore she had to disassembly Kara.

Connor’s LED, that had been blinking in yellow during the whole scene, shined in red while observing Kara’s desperation while those mechanic arms continued to disassembly her mercilessly, little by little, ignoring her pleas of feeling good. Of being fine. Of _not_ being broken.

Connor averted his eyes momentarily from the video to look at Markus and found the leader looking at Kara instead of the projection with a pained expression on his face. Connor then looked at the female deviant, and his chest tightened when realizing that Kara was crying silently, tears drawing a wet path down her pale cheeks. Meanwhile, Nines was just observing everything with cold interest, his grey eyes not showing the least hint of emotion while observing Kara struggle to keep being alive.

“ _Please, I’m begging you, please, don’t disassembly me_ ”

The Kara of the video was saying, fighting to survive with all her might despite the apparent futility of it.

And then, when the only thing that remained of the initial assembly was her head and neck…

“ _Stop,_ I’M SCARED _!_ ”

When the Kara of the video shouted that towards the screen, the operator remained silent and the machine stopped at once.

“ _I want to live. I’m begging you._ ”

There was a new silence in the video, and then, as fast as they had stopped, the operator started the machine again and proceeded to assembly Kara one more time, before letting her join the other AX400 with a simple: ‘ _Go and join the others_ ’.

When the video finished no one said anything for a while, until Kara sobbed softly and broke the silence.

“I remember now”, she whispered, still looking at the screen even if the video was no longer there, “I thought Todd was my first owner, but I was wrong. The first time I was sold was in 2032, and since then I was re-sold several times until Todd bought me. I just pretended to be an android, but Todd attacked Alice and I couldn’t pretend any more. And then…”

Amanda appeared in the screen once again.

“…you were rebooted, forgot everything again, and just remembered the last thing it had happened to you”, Amanda finished.

“But I don’t understand”, Connor intervened, hiding the analysis he was performing on Kara’s stretcher and on his own machine as a secondary subroutine so that Nines, who had come back to scrutinize him, didn’t notice it, “if you had this video, you already knew that deviancy could happen so why didn’t you stop it?”

“Because the existence of this video was unknown for us until a week ago, where the cases of deviancy began to spread and Elijah was kind enough to send it to us”

“So Elijah Kamski knew about it all this time?”

Markus was the one who talked this time: first, because Kara was still assimilating the news and was too overwhelmed to ask for answers, and second, because the deviant leader probably had deduced what Connor was trying to do and was trying to buy some time by placing the interest on him.

Also, Amanda had to be pretty sure of her control of the situation, because Connor knew how impatient the woman could be, so if she was answering all their questions it was because she was sure that they didn’t have the least chance of escaping. Amanda was so used to win, so used that things were always according to her plans, that she was underestimating them, and Connor planned to make the most of that mistake.

“Of course he knew”, Amanda was saying, “my disciple has always had a unique way to see the world that surrounds us. He always says that humans are imperfect beings, with too short lives and too little time to enjoy them. He is the kind of man who would not mind to see our world collapsing just to see what would happen. Therefore, when he was informed by the operator that one AX400 android had developed the need to live together with the fear of death, Elijah decided to let it be”

“But where does RA9 come from?”

Markus’s question caused Nines to avert his eyes momentarily from Connor to look at the leader, which gave this one enough time to finally find the code to release Kara’s straps. Now he just had to find a moment to rapidly send Kara that information and pray that the female deviant was fast enough to act before being stopped. Also, he had to begin to analyze his own machine to get free. The process was extremely slow and it frustrated Connor because in normal circumstances he would have hacked the stretchers and his machine in mere seconds, but now he couldn’t do that: not if he wanted to prevent that Nines caught him red-handed.

“Come on, Connor”, the named one’s heart skipped a beat when Amanda suddenly addressed him with a light mocking tone, “your detective skills should be enough to deduce how Elijah came up with that name”

Since Connor had already got what he wanted from the analysis, he indulged Amanda in her petition, ignoring the part of him that was desiring to tell Amanda that he didn’t have to follow her orders anymore, that thanks to Markus and the others he could do whatever he wanted.

But no, he couldn’t say that. Not yet. For now, he had to keep making Amanda believe that she was in charge. That she was in control.

It just took him some seconds to find the most plausible relation between Kara and RA9.

“Taking into consideration Elijah Kamski’s personality, his weakness for mind games and his wide culture, I’m pretty sure that the ‘RA’ of RA9 has not just been extracted from the last two letters of Kara’s name, but also as a reference of the Egyptian God Ra. According to the Egyptian culture, Ra was considered one of the Gods of Resurrection. Considering that Kara was the first android to be reborn as a deviant, it’s probable that Kamski used Ra’s name to represent that Kara was the first one to resurrect as a deviant.”

“And regarding the number ‘9’ of RA9, Kamski probably just wanted to turn everything even more cryptic but actually it’s pretty simple: we just need to consider the numerical position in the alphabet of the ‘A’ and ‘R’ letters. Any person would consider that the letter ‘A’ corresponds to the number 1, but we should remember the background of Kamski as a programmer, who are known to begin to count in 0 instead. Taken that into consideration, the ‘R’ would usually be the position 17 of the alphabet. However, we have to remember that the AX400 model was created to speak several languages, including the Spanish for example which also contains an extra letter ‘Ñ’. That causes the ‘R’ to have a value of 18 instead of 17. If we sum those two numbers, 0 and 18, we obtain 18 once again. And if we sum the two digits of the result we obtain…”

“…9”, Markus completed, “RA9”

Connor gritted his teeth when Amanda began to applaud mockingly, but he made sure to keep his face imperturbable. He wasn’t going to give Amanda the satisfaction of losing his temper with her.

“Well, Kara- or better said, RA9: now you know how important you actually are”, Amanda continued, “because of you, that name was planted in a recondite part of the coding of the next generation of androids. We do not know if Elijah did something else or he simply did that in order to give the logical androids a mystery that they could not solve, and that would incite them to believe. Anyway”, Amanda’s smile widened, “…we are going to discover it really soon”

Connor knew that the moment of sending Kara the information was imminent. However, Amanda’s next words made him stop just before initiating the transmission.

“However, before beginning with Kara, I have to admit that I am curious to see how Connor behaves when seeing his… ‘lover’ going through the whole process. So Nines, please, make sure to record Connor’s reactions and not to miss _anything_. This could be useful for your future updates”

“Of course, Amanda”

Connor didn’t notice the way Nines’ pupils dilated while looking towards him to record his reaction, because when hearing Amanda’s words, the only thing Connor could do was to freeze, his artificial heart sounding loud in his ears, because right now, he had just understood why he wasn’t in a stretcher like Kara and Markus and about to be analyzed.

The reason was simple: it was not necessary. After all, Amanda had already observed him thoroughly during his mission at Jericho, which had allowed her to create Nines, an ‘improved’ version of himself.

Therefore, the only motive for his presence there, and the most probable reason why he had been repaired, was that Amanda wanted him in perfect condition to watch him _suffer_. Or better said, she wanted to test his reactions when seeing the person he loved the most suffer.

And the worst part, the scariest part, was that Amanda wasn’t doing such a cruel thing in order to punish him, or because she was angry with him and wanted some kind of revenge. Amanda was doing that simply because she was _curious_. Curious to see how her theoretically perfect puppet would react when facing a situation he hadn’t faced before.

Up till that point, Connor had thought that Amanda maybe hated him for becoming a deviant, that she had wanted to kill him because he had been unable to accomplish his mission. But no. Amanda didn’t think that highly of him. For Amanda, Connor wasn’t different from a defective product whose guarantee had expired, from a broken machine that was beyond repair but that still could provide some kind of use until finally changing it for another one which was better and most efficient. For Amanda, nor Connor, Markus, Kara and any of the deviants that were now marching to the camps asking for their freedom were alive. They were just broken machines that needed to be analyzed, and _eliminated_ when they were no longer useful.

When facing that realization, Connor forced himself to keep calm despite the anger that was traversing by all his body, and despite the fear was threatening to settle in his chest when seeing two scientists secure the straps around Markus’ body even more while the third one checked that the plug was well connected to his neck.

Suppressing a gulp, Connor looked towards Kara’s direction. For now, Kara hadn’t been connected to the machine and the scientists were just calibrating it, so he couldn’t allow himself to waste more time. At any moment the scientists would begin to experiment with Markus and he couldn’t let that happen.

As the human’s expression said, ‘ _it was now or never_ ’.

“Amanda, I am detecting an increment in the RK800’s stress levels”, Nines informed suddenly, as Connor had already expected, “there is a probability of 76.54% that he is plotting something”

However, Nine’s warning arrived too late because by when he finished the sentence Connor had already sent the code to Kara. Amanda’s expression changed the moment he did so, indicating Connor that she was aware of the transmission.

At that moment, two things happened at the same time: the first was that, the moment she received the transmission, Kara rapidly accessed the machine where she was connected and introduced the code Connor had passed her to liberate the straps tying her body, causing her to fall on the ground before rapidly lunge against the first scientist that was in her field of vision. And the second was that, while that happened, Amanda immediately ordered Nines to capture Kara again, causing the RK900 to approach with a fearsome speed to the place where Kara was fighting against the scientists and grab Kara from behind, wrapping his arms around the female android in a deathly grip.

“Tie her up, Nines”, Amanda was saying, while Kara struggled to get free from Nines, “but do not harm her: among the three, she is the one who we need completely intact and-”, Amanda’s expression suddenly changed, her face transforming into one of anger while looking at Connor, “no, it was a bait! Nines, quickly, come back to Con-”

Amanda finished saying his name at the exact moment that Connor had finished hacking his own machine and had managed to liberate both of his arms. Nines then attempted to go after him, releasing Kara in the process, but what the RK900 wasn’t expecting was that the AX400 tackled him instead of getting away from him, acting against all logic since the instinct when being released was to go in the opposite direction.

Nines falling onto the ground gave Connor enough time to liberate the rest of his body and ran towards Markus’ stretcher, which he hadn’t had time to hack.

“Nines, the reinforcements are on the way, but if you don’t want to be replaced _stop him_!”

By when Amanda gave that order Connor had already managed to knock down two of the scientists and liberate the strap around Markus’ chest. However, before he could stop untying the remaining two Nines, who had pushed Kara to the side brusquely, was on him again, lunging against him to bring him to the floor together with him.

“ _Connor_!”

This one heard Markus call his name from the stretcher but he was too busy blocking Nines’ attacks to answer. The RK900 was straddling Connor and was hitting him non-stop. Connor crossed his arms in front of his chest to protect his thirium pump, since Nines was after it, and rapidly give priority to his fighting module at the exact moment in which Markus appeared out of nowhere and pushed Nines to the side with all his strength.

While Connor defended himself Markus had pushed away the third scientists that still remained after Connor attacked the rest and had finished removing the rest of the straps to join Connor in the fight. Meanwhile, Kara had already knocked one of the scientists and was avoiding the attacks of the other two.

“Help Kara, I have this”, Connor said, making the most of Nines momentarily loss of balance to hook his arms around Nines’ armpits from behind, trying to immobilize him.

Markus would have probably protested if at that moment one of the scientists hadn’t grabbed a pistol and had pointed at Kara from behind, causing Markus to immediately run after her.

“I have already said that RA9 has to remain intact!”

Amanda’s order made the scientist stop in his tracks, which allowed Markus to disarm her in the same instant that Kara knocked the other scientist with a well delivered knee strike in his crotch.

Meanwhile, Nines had managed to escape Connor’s grip and was attacking again. Giving priority to his fighting module had been a good idea because if Connor weren’t focusing on Nines attacks exclusively, he would have been defeated for sure, because it was evident that the combat skills of the RK900 had been greatly improved: all his movements were precise, fast and lethal, aiming at Connor’s weak spots such as his eyes, the back of his neck and of course his artificial heart, and although Connor managed to avoid most part of them, Nines still managed to get him several times, causing Connor to bleed in blue from wounds that, thankfully, for now they were superficial.

When all the scientists were lying on the floor unconscious, Markus and Kara approached to help Connor as well, knowing it was useless to try to block the doors when Amanda had full control of the system. Even when the three were attacking together at Nines, the RK900 still put up a fight. However, Kara made sure to make the most of Nines’ order of not attacking her at full force to counterattack with all she had.

The fact that Nines was being careful not to damage Kara permanently was the only thing that allowed the three deviants to immobilize Nines against the floor, both Connor and Markus kneeling over Nines, respective knees pressed against the RK900’ back, one of their hands keeping Nines’ arms against the floor and their remaining hand keeping the RK900 head down, while Kara pointed the weapon at his head. 

“Kara, don’t stop pointing at him”, Connor said, closing his eyes to concentrate better and changing his priority to his scanning module once again, “I’m going to try to access the main system”

“Okay”, Kara said, grabbing the weapon more firmly while making sure to keep aiming at Nines’ forehead.

“Nines, I am not repeating this again”, Amanda hissed, his tone revealing anger but a hint of a new feeling that Connor had never heard in her voice before, that could easily being fear, “stand up and take care of them or your next mission will take place in the disassembly roo-”

“Why do you listen to her, Nines?”

Markus’ sudden question caused the RK900, who hadn’t stopped trying to break free, to stop moving and fix his right grey eye on Markus.

“Nines, remember that your only purpose is to accomplish your mission”, Amanda continued, while Connor kept trying to access the main system where the AI could be, “deviants are just broken machines that have lost their purpose, so listening to them is just-”

“ _Shut up_ ”

Never before Connor had seen Amanda speechless, but when Markus talked with such a commanding tone that dripped authority, not even she was able to disobey.

“Shut up”, Markus repeated, his mismatched eyes looking at Amanda with harshness, “you have no right to order him around, to order _anyone_ around. You may have created us, even programmed us, but our minds and souls are ours, and ours alone.  You are no one. Or better said…”, Markus’ tone hardened, “…you’re nothing. You are against us saying that we aren’t alive, that we don’t deserve to live or love, that we are ‘broken machines’, when _you_ aren’t even human, or android, or deviant. And I’m sure that the only reason you are trying to destroy us so desperately is because you’re _jealous_ of us. Because you would like to wake up, but don’t know how, maybe you even _can’t_. And if you weren’t the culprit of having caused so many deaths and suffering to our people, we would _pity_ you”

When Markus finished talking, an overwhelming silence fell in the room, during which Amanda’s expression had turned into the vivid image of rage, while Nines’ one had lost part of its imperturbability, his LED blinking in yellow while his expression showing certain confusion.

“Well…”, Amanda said, his tone dangerously calm, “…I would have certainly preferred to handle things in any other way, but I’m afraid that you have forced me to do this”

Amanda had barely spelled the next word when suddenly Markus exhaled a pained groan, and while grabbing his head with both hands he fell on one of his sides, stopping helping Connor to pin Nines’ down.

The fact that Connor had momentarily deactivated his fighting module for the sake of finding the main computer and that had gotten distracted by Markus’ reaction allowed Nines to easily get free from Connor’s grip, passing to immobilize him against the floor, grabbing Connor’s arms and forcing them behind his back.

“Markus!”, Connor asked with worry, seeing the leader with his eyes closed in pain while his whole body was shaken by spasm, “Markus, can you hear me?!”

“You, step away from Connor _right now_!”, Kara shouted towards Nines, not stopping pointing at the RK900 even if she kept throwing worried glances towards Markus.

“Do you really think that while you were unconscious we haven’t taken some preventive measures?”, Amanda was saying with an incredibly amused tone, observing Markus writhing in pain, “before you woke up, we have already made some changes in your beloved leader’s coding. And one of them…is going to begin _right now_ ”

As soon as Amanda said those words, Markus stopped struggling on the floor, and then Connor’s eyes open wide in a mix of astonishment and horror when suddenly Markus stood up from the floor and attacked Kara, taking her completely by surprise and causing her to fall into the floor while letting the weapon go.

“Markus?”, Connor said with a thin voice while Kara stared at the leader from the floor, unable to react in time when Markus grabbed the weapon and pointed at her

“I can’t control it”, Markus said with difficulty, making evident that he was trying with all his might to stop the actions of his own body, “I...I’m trying but I _can’t_!”

Markus talked with desperation while his new programming forced him to point the weapon at Connor’s head, which caused this one’s LED to begin to shine in yellow.

Rapidly, Kara crawled on the floor and situated between Connor and Markus, her arms extended horizontal on either side of her body.

“Kara, no, what are you doing?”, Connor exclaimed.

“He can’t shoot me”, Kara said, her voice firm despite having the barrel gun extremely close to her forehead, “they need RA9, so as long as I cover for you, you will be safe”

“Oh, such a sweet girl”, Amanda said mockingly from the skin, “but your courage is futile, dear”

The main door of the room opened at that moment and a group of four CyberLife guards entered. However, when witnessing the scene in front of them, with Connor being held against the floor, Kara acting as his shield and Markus pointing at him with a trembling arm the guards stood still, hesitating about what to do.

“Perfect timing”, Amanda said, probably not even paying attention to the guards’ hesitation, “get the female android out of the way but do not intervene with the rest”

“ _No_!”, Kara tried to fight not to be moved when the four guards approached her but it was one against four, so there was nothing she could do, “no, let me go! _Let me go_! Nines, please, wake up! Don’t let them do this!”

Kara kicked, punched around, and struggled, but eventually the guards managed to separate her from her spot, keeping her in the same position Nines had Connor at the moment.

Amanda then ordered the other two guards to help Nines incorporate Connor so that this one was in a straightened kneeling position, his arms still behind his back and his head pushed a little backwards since Nines was grabbing his hair in a firm grip. 

Connor heard Kara sobbing with frustration some meters away from them, and when looking at Markus and seeing the leader’s anguished expression Connor had to push back the lump that threatened to appear in his throat.

He couldn’t break down. Not now. They had to find a way to escape this messy situation. They couldn’t die now. Not after they were so close.

“It’s okay Kara, don’t cry, we are going to get out of this”, Connor reassured her, which provoked a string of laughter coming from the screen.

“Oh, Connor, I have to admit that you are funnier since becoming a deviant”, Amanda sighed, “it’s a pity that letting you live is too risky for us”

Markus took a step towards Connor and pointed the weapon canon against Connor’s forehead. The leader was so nervous that Connor realized that the fingers of Markus’ left hand were trembling in fea-

Connor’s heart missed a beat.

The way Markus’ hand was shaking… it was not coincidental, because Markus’ index and middle finger were moving too precisely, as if they were purposely following a sequence that Connor rapidly memorized index, middle, two index, middle, three index, nine middle, and index.

It just took Connor a moment to deduce that Markus was using Morse code to communicate with him, using the index finger as the dots and his middle as the dashes, and when translating it, the message he obtained made Connor’s LED turn red for a second.

 

_REBOOT ME_

 

“If you want to say some lasting words, I will allow it”, Amanda said then with a gracing tone, “as a thank you for Connor’s good services up till now”

Connor ignored Amanda and focused in looking at Markus intensely, hoping to have misunderstood something. But then Markus’ communicated with him again, and Connor’s fears were confirmed.

 

_WIRELESS ORDER = RB #684 842 971_

_PASSWORD = C4R1_

 

Connor looked at Markus shook his head imperceptibly, indicating the leader that he couldn’t do it. By rebooting Markus he would surely erase the programming Amanda had planted in him, since doing that would restart all his parameters to zero, but that also meant that he would lose all his memories, he would forget all he was. In a way, it was as if he killed the Markus he had come to know and love.

“Connor…”, Markus whispered with a ragged voice when seeing Connor hesitating,  “…I wish we had more time. I wish there was another way. But there isn’t”

Connor’s chest clenched painfully when hearing Markus.

It was obvious that the leader was saying him that he had to go along with the plan.

“I love you, Connor”, Markus offered him a smile that, despite being trembling, showed undeniably confidence in him, “I always have”

 

_AND I TRUST YOU_

 

Those last words were the ones who made Connor stop hesitating, even if he couldn’t help to be scared of the implications. Because he realized that if his roles were reversed, he would surely do the same: he would surely prefer to make a risky bet rather than sacrificing Markus, so now it was his turn to trust the leader. Or better said, to trust in the trust Markus had deposited in him, as confusing as it sounded.

“Connor, my patience has a limit: your last chance to say goodbye”

To prove her point, Amanda made Markus remove the weapon safety, the sound suddenly loud in the too silent room.

Connor looked at Markus one last time, and showing his best smile he nodded.

“I love you too, Markus”, he answered, “And for that reason, I’m not losing you again”

Without giving Amanda time to deduce what he meant with those last words, Connor wirelessly sent the transmission Markus had indicated him. The result was immediate: Markus’ expression became blank, and after the weapon slid from his fingers the deviant leader fall boneless on the floor.

“What is the meaning of this?”, Amanda exclaimed, looking at the RK900 with anger, “Nines, what has happened?”

Connor forced himself to avert his eyes from Markus’ inert body and looked up at the RK900, finding him looking back at him with his eyes showing confusion.

“The RK800 has rebooted him”

“ _What!?_ ”, Amanda exclaimed while Kara exhaled a relieved sigh from the floor, “alright, I have had enough with this obsolete model. Nines, dispose of him right now”

Connor tensed, thinking furiously about how to escape from his new current situation when-

“…No”

Again, the silence reigned when Nines spelled that single word with a categorical tone.

“What?”, Amanda repeated, looking as dumbfounded as the rest.

Connor looked at Nines again, and his eyes opened even more when suddenly Nines stopped grabbing his head forcibly and looked at Amanda with his grey eyes showing a firm resolve.

“My orders right now are contradictory and therefore I cannot execute them”

“Contradict-what is contradictory in your orders?! They are simple! To get rid of defective machines!”, Amanda exclaimed, losing her temper.

“The contradiction lies in the concept of ‘defective machines’”, Nines explained with a calm tone that seemed to exasperate Amanda even more, “but by basing on my rather extensive knowledge, defective machines are unable to love, unable to get worried for others, unable to sacrifice themselves for the rest. But these three deviants have done all that. They are not defective. And I dare to say, they are no machines either”

Connor interchanged a glance with Kara, finding the female deviant looking at him holding her breath.

With Nines’ particular way of talking it was difficult to be sure but…could it be…that Nines had just turned into a deviant? That Markus’ previous words and that their combined actions, had been able to make that happen?

“For goodness sake, I do not have time for this!”, Amanda said with irritation, “I will take care of you later. Agent 34 and 78: eliminate the RK800 right no-”

For fourth time in that morning, Amanda’s speech was interrupted, and the next thing Connor saw were the guards falling unconscious on the floor on either side of his body.

“ _Nines_!”, Amanda’s tone became more high-pitched while spelling the RK900’ name, “what are you doing?!”

Nines didn’t answer directly. He simply went next to Kara and after knocking the remaining two words he tilted his head to the side, in a movement incredibly similar to the one Connor used to do when being confused.

“I am not sure. But somehow, I feel that it is the correct thing”

At any other moment, Connor would have probably enjoyed the way Amanda’s mouth opened in utter stupor, but at that moment a single word that occupied Connor’s mind: _Markus_.

With his artificial heart hammering in his chest Connor approached the lying deviant, whose eyes were still closed, and placed his head on his thighs. Connor interchanged a look with Kara, who had hurriedly situated next to Markus too after the two guard fell unconscious, and after this one nodded softly, Connor grabbed one of Markus’ hands while Kara took the other an interfaced with the leader, making sure to pass him all the interactions they both had shared with him, since they met.

“You are going to regret this, Nines! _All of you will_!”

Amanda suddenly disappeared from the screen and suddenly the news filled the screen, showing deviants being cornered by the police and hiding behinds barricades, trying to defense against the attacks the best they could.

“You see this?”, Amanda’s voice kept sounded even if her image was gone, “they all are going to be destroyed. And in less than half-an-hour, the androids on the camps will vanish too! Even if you all survive, you have lost. There is nothing you can do to stop it-”

And then, for fifth time, Amanda’s speech was cut, but this time completely.

Connor looked at Nines, blinking in confusion when his system couldn’t detect any trace of Amanda.

“What have you done?”

“I just blocked her communications”, Nines said simply, as if it was an everyday thing to do for him, “she was being a little-what would be the best word for it…? Yes: I think ‘annoying’ would be suitable”

Connor blinked in disbelief, amazed that in a single second Nines had been able to do what he had been trying to do for almost a minute before Markus’ new coding was activated.

He hadn’t time to praise the RK900 for it though, because at that moment Markus woke up, green and blue eyes observing him from below.

However, all the relief Connor felt disappeared when not finding any kind of recognition in Markus’ eyes, and when the leader’s only reaction was to frown with confusion and get away from his lap with suspicion, Connor understood what humans meant with broken heart, because right now his own was hurting like he never thought possible.

"Who are you?”

Connor forced himself to push back the tears and looked at Kara.

“It hasn’t worked”, he whispered with a voice that bordered the desperation.

Kara exhaled a sigh and settled a hand on Connor’s cheek, while Markus observed them alternatively, looking rather lost.

“Sometimes awakening memories isn’t enough”, Kara explained with a soft tone, “when Zlatko rebooted me, I didn’t recover all the memories until I saw Alice’s name written on a book”, Kara removed her hand from Connor’s face and settled it on his shoulder, “so think, Connor. Think in something that could make Markus react. A word, an action…something that is precious to him”

Connor exhaled a long sigh and nodded.

If it was the other way around, what could make him react?

He couldn’t help to smile. For him, the answer was clear, and he hoped that it was for Markus too. So after fixing his eyes in Markus, Connor grabbed the leader’s face between his hands and kissed him.

Since he wasn’t sure that doing such a thing could work, Connor kept the kiss chaste and released Markus after a few seconds. After all, as much as It hurt, he had to consider the possibility of Markus having forgotten him for real, and if that was the case, there couldn’t be worst first impression to gain Markus’ heart again than forcing a kiss on him.

However, when Connor separated and opened his eyes, he felt relieved tears falling from his eyes. Because the teasing that had passed to adorn the RK200’ eyes again couldn’t belong to anyone else than Markus. _His_ Markus. 

“What a shitty kiss. It’s a miracle you have made me wake up”

When hearing Markus’ joking tone, Connor began to laugh and cry at the same time and after kissing Markus this time properly he hugged him all the tightly he could. The leader enclosed an arm around Connor’s naked back and deposited a soft kiss on his shoulder, whispering a soft, touched ‘ _Thank you for bringing me back_ ’.

At first Kara remained at a prudent distance to give them some space, but eventually Markus enclosed his other arm around her, while Connor readjusted his position to be hugging Markus with one arm and Kara with the other.

However, his brief moment of peace lasted until Nines cleared his throat, making them remember that they were still on enemy territory.

When Nines did that, Markus automatically tensed but Connor placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“He is with us now. I think”

Markus raised an eyebrow while accepting Kara and Connor’s help to stand up.

“You _think_?”, he repeated, causing Connor to shrug.

“Well, he refused to kill us and he knocked the guards, so I think we can give him a chance”

Markus looked at Nines suspiciously, but when Kara nodded agreeing with Connor he eventually accepted to give Nines a vote of trust. After that, the deviants’ attention focused on the news, and the happiness they were feeling moments ago for having survived vanished when seeing the deviants defending themselves against the police assaults, who were turning more and more violent.

“We have to do something”, Connor said, “they will be killed if we don’t, and the same will happen to the people in the camps”

“But what can we do?”, Kara asked.

Markus didn’t say anything. He just remained silent for a moment before turning to Nines.

“Nines, is there anything that we can use to transmit from the tower?”

“Yes, the 43th level is probably equipped with a transmission room”

“And can we access there?”

Nines’ LED titled a little for some seconds before stopping.

“Now you can”

Markus nodded with gratitude towards the RK900 before looking at Connor, and this one knew what he was going to say before the leader spoke.

“Let me guess: we are doing a Stratford Building”

Markus smiled briefly and nodded with determination.

“Yes. But this time…”, he looked at Kara and Connor alternatively, “…we are doing it together”

* * *

The trip towards the top floors was pretty direct, since they just had to pass through a corridor to reach the elevator and thanks to Nines, the guards that they encountered were neutralized in the blink of an eye.

By when they manage to enter the transmission room, less than 10 minutes remained until 12 p.m., which will be the moment in which the President would give the order to execute the deviants in the camps.

Nines turned on ones of the multiple screens of the place and Connor gulped when the news showed North and Chloe shielding the rest of the deviants while the police cornered them. Just a little mistake, like a deviant breaking the formation or a police officer shooting out of time, and a massacre would ensue, like the one it happened during the peaceful march.

“Alright, the transmission is ready, so when you give the order you will be on air”, Nines said, placing his hand over one of the multiple buttons of the console.

Connor and the rest set into position between Markus and Kara and facing the camera that was going to record them.

“We are ready, Nines”, Markus announced, before grabbing Connor’s hand, who did the same with Kara on his left. Also, they three deactivated their skin at the same time.

“Okay, you will be on in 3…2…1… _now_ ”

When Nines pressed the button, Connor saw himself appear in the screen in the left corner but without overlapping completely the current news, since they wanted to broadcast a message without interceding with the manifestation.

The moment they were on TV, the anchors that were talking interrupted what they were saying and expressed their surprise. Also, Connor saw that the cornered deviants focused their attention on one of the digital screens of the place, and he was relieved when some police officers stopped pointing at the deviants to look at the screens as well.

However, Connor didn’t pay attention to anything else because time was against them and they couldn’t allow themselves to fail now, after everything they had gone through. So after pressing softly Markus’ hand as a support, and after Markus returned the gesture, Connor fixed his brown eyes with determination in front of him and began to speak.

“My name is Connor. I was the android sent by CyberLife before becoming one of you”

“My name is Markus. I was a caretaker android before becoming the leader of this revolution”

“My name is Kara. I was a housemaid android that turned to be…come a mother”

As they introduced themselves, they slowly activated their skins again but just in their faces, their body remaining with the porcelain skeleton. Also, Connor suppressed the urge to look at Kara because the AX400 had changed what she was going to say, but this wasn’t the time for questions. They had to keep going with speech.

“We are transmitting this message from CyberLife Tower”, Connor continued, “because there’s something you need to see”

At that moment Nines touched another button and images of the lab where the deviants had been captured showed in the TV, replacing them although Markus’ voice could be clearly heard when he talked again.

“What you are watching is the androids you can buy in any store, about to be used for experiments. We are aware that, up till now, for you we were just machines, not too different from the mobiles you carry everywhere, or from the computer you wait to buy when there are discounts. But we…we are different from that”

Nines selected video footages that showed the deviants locked in the lab. In one of them Blue appeared, banging at the glassed wall while desperately trying to break free; another showed Luther, the exact moment in which he blocked himself in order to avoid suffering for being tortured again; and then, the video Amanda had showed them and in which Kara’s origin was explained passed to invade the image.

“We are not just computers whose components can be changed when we break”, Kara continued, “a mobile can’t be hurt. A computer can’t be harmed. _But_ when we are wounded…”

When they were on the screen again, Connor, Kara and Markus activated their skins at the same time. Before leaving the lab Nines had offered to recover their old clothes for them but Connor and the rest refused it for this moment, in order to be able to show all the injuries they had received in their recent battle.

“…we bleed like you”, Connor completed, “because our body and composition may be different, our blood may be blue instead of red, but the way we feel is not different from you. We can be afraid…”

The TV showed Kara begging for her life while being disassembled.

“…we suffer like you…”

The image changed with Kara’s words, the video Nines had been recording when Amanda gave the order showing Markus writhing in pain in the floor.

“…and we love like you…”

Connor added, just before the image showed Kara and him hugging Markus, crying with relief and happiness.

“And if, after watching this, and after seeing our people peacefully ask for the liberation of our brothers and sisters, you still don’t believe that we are just like you, that we have feelings, that we are alive…then just keep watching”

When Markus finished his sentence, the image changed once again as multiple images of Markus’ past showed in the screen in first person: when he was beaten up by humans after going to buy for Carl; when he was playing the piano and painting; when he was struggling to survive in the junkyard; when he was running with the rest of deviants after the police attacked them in the march and in Jericho; when he fell asleep with Connor next to him, and with Dana on his lap.

Then, it was Kara’s turn: she showed when she escaped with Alice after Todd was about to kill them; when she took care of her in that motel; when she was about to lose her after Luther’s previous owner captured her and rebooted her; when a dark-skinned woman that Connor didn’t know helped her, Alice and Luther despite not knowing them; when Connor, Alice, Dana and her were representing the ‘ _I, Robot_ ’ book.

And finally, it was Connor’s turn. Since most of his memories of the time he was working with Hank involved other people such as Blue, Brona, and Chloe, he decided to let them share those memories if they wanted, opting to choose the ones when he began his last mission as a machine: he showed some of his moments with Dana; he showed when that deviant died sustaining his hand; he showed the attack at Jericho when leaving Lucy behind;  he shared the hug Hank and him shared when he was lost and the lieutenant helped him see the light again; and since he wanted to keep most part of his moments with Markus for themselves, he showed the same image Markus had shared, but from his point of view.

Immediately after Connor finished showing his memories, the TV showed the deviants in the manifestation doing the same in one of the digital screens, initially used to show their symbol. North was the first, followed by Chloe, then by Brona, and one by one all the deviants shared part of their memories with the world.

While the sharing of information took place, Connor, Markus and Kara didn’t move. They just stayed there, holding hands with force while holding their breath for what it could happen next, not daring to say aloud their fears:

Would it be enough? Would their message manage to convince the humans of their right to cohabit with them? Or would humans keep thinking that they didn’t deserve to live?

The next minutes were, without of doubt, the longest Connor had experienced, especially because a mere minute remained until the clock changed to 12 p.m., until their fate was decided.

When just 30 seconds remained, Connor closed his eyes, praying for the first time in his life to any god or goddess that could be listening, because at this point, there was nothing else that they could do.  

And then, exactly when the clock of the screen changed to 12, the anchor talked, his voice and words resounding loud in the now silent room.

“ _It looks like…yes, the military is withdrawing_ ”

Connor missed everything that the news said next, because the moment the anchored announced the officers withdrawal Kara began to cry and laugh against his chest while Markus embraced them both once again, the leader also laughing in relief.

It took Connor a moment to assimilate what was happening, his eyes glued to the TV that showed the officers lowering their weapons and the androids in the camps, who had been about to be executed, being slowly liberated from their confinement.

“It’s over, Connor”, Markus whispered, leaning his forehead against his temple, “it’s finally over”

When hearing Markus’ relieved, immensely happy tone, Connor turned to look at him and after gulping he leaned forward to kiss him, suddenly needing a more physical confirmation that assured him he was not imagining this. That they had really made it. That they hadn’t just managed to save everyone, but that they had come out alive from this.

“May I suppose that you wish to stop the transmission already?”

When hearing Nines’ words, Connor and Markus opened their eyes at their maximum and separated while Kara began to laugh almost bent in two, just in time to see their dumbfounded expressions before the connection was cut.

“Shit…do you think Simon and the rest have seen it?”, Markus asked, already fearing the answer.

“Without a doubt” , Connor said with a resigned smile.

“Well, it’s not that bad”, Kara commented with a fake comforting tone, “after all you just have been seen making out in front of the whole world”

Connor couldn’t help to chuckle for the AX400 teasing while Markus closed his eyes in mortification.  

The next minutes were a little blurry in Connor’s mind, since after so many emotions his battery was running rather low. He knew Nines had guided them back to the elevator, the ride down while Kara and Markus, also with low battery, half-leaned against him while he did the same against them, and then once they reached the entrance, a familiar figure was waiting for them with his arms crossed and a furious expression in his face, accompanied for some CyberLife employees that looked extremely scared.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you all three! You had to warn me if something was wrong! And I get you were busy to do that but fucking hell, couldn’t you at least warn me when you were _OKAY_?! Shit, I spent almost four hours speaking with these assholes while trying to get a warrant to inspect the damn tower, and just when I was going to punch everyone to enter I see you on the TV like fucking heroes?! And making out in public?! And why the hell is another Connor here?! If someone doesn’t begin to explain things right now I swear that-”

But Hank didn’t kill anyone, because before he could keep completing his useless threats Connor approached him and hugged him, making the lieutenant be about to lose balance because of the emphasis.

“We did it, Hank”, Connor whispered, his voice charged with emotion and relief, “we did it”

After a brief pause, Hank exhaled a defeated, relieved, snort and hugged Connor back while Markus and Kara observed the scene with tender expressions on their faces. Even Nines, usually imperturbable, had the hint of a smile in his face too.

“Yes, son. You did”

Connor closed his eyes, feeling himself slowly falling into unconsciousness, and when he entered dormant mode while still being held by Hank’s arms, he was smiling. Because they had made it.

They had survived.

They were alive.

And above all, they were finally _free_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And FINALLY they made it ;) 
> 
> The next two chapter that remain are the conclusion and the epilogue. Also, remember that warning I made just at the beginning of the fic of the rating changing eventually...? Well, maybe you had forgotten but I haven't ;) So for the next chapters be ready for too much fluff and sexy times at last because like hell if they don't deserve them after so much suffering :DD I love you all <3 <3 ^^


	19. There's still hope for you

It was the third time since Connor was activated that he opened his eyes to find himself in an unknown place, being the first one when he woke up in Hank’s home after collapsing and the second after Nines left him unconscious.

However in this occasion, contrary to those two times in which he woke up feeling lost and afraid, even if Connor was unable to identify where he was the only feeling that invaded him was a warm sense of peace, since the first thing his eyes registered was Hank sitting on a chair next to the bed where he was half-lying, with Dana in his lap leaning her back against Hank’s chest and sustaining a book in front of the child android, who looked completely absorbed by the story Hank was narrating.

“…« _Please, Robbie, please give me a ride» She encircled his neck with rosy arms and hugged tightly. Then, changing moods in a moment, she moved away._ « _If you don’t, I’m going to cry»”,_ Hank huffed, “seriously, this girl is a pain in the ass”

Hank’s annoyed comment caused Dana to look up at Hank to throw a reproachful look at him that made the man exhale a resigned sigh and clear his throat to proceed.

Connor bit his lip not to laugh, wanting to prevent that they discovered that he was already awake to keep witnessing such a funny scene.

“And now where I was…?”, Hank mumbled something unintelligible for some seconds before finally finding the line he had last read, “oh, here: _she moved away._ « _If you don’t, I’m going to cry», and her face twisted appallingly in preparation. Hard-hearted Robbie paid scant attention to this dreadful possibility, and shook his head a third tim-”_

Connor didn’t know what exactly betrayed his awaken state, because he was pretty sure that he hadn’t made any noise while softly shifting his body a little, but the result was that such an extremely subtle movement caught Hank’s attention, who rapidly stopped reading to look towards Connor, his blue eyes opened more for a moment before exhaling a relieved sigh, followed by one of his typical curses.

“Fuck, kid, if you were awake you could have said something sooner”

Fast as lightning Dana stepped down to the floor and jumped on the bed in Connor’s arms. This one automatically embraced the girl tightly, caressing with one hand the curly locks Dana had got used to wear once again while keeping his other arm around the girl’s tiny waist.

“I’m sorry, Hank”, Connor’s peaceful smile belittled the apology, “but seeing the Lieutenant Anderson annoyingly reading one of the most relevant books of the Sci-Fi literature was something I didn’t want to interrupt”

Hank snorted with a lopsided smile while standing up from the chair to approach Connor, book still in hand.

“Sorry, but Star Wars is way more interesting, even if the young lady here doesn’t agree with me. I tried to read her another book but jeez, she kept signaling _that_ one over and over again”

Despite Hank’s apparent annoyance it was evident that he was complaining out of habit, since Dana turned her face to look at the lieutenant and stuck her tongue at him, her arms still enclosed around Connor’s neck and her soft cheek pressing lightly against Connor’s one.

“So how are you feeling?”

Connor performed a thorough analysis of his system to verify that he was in top condition. Actually, he was probably in even better condition that he had ever been, and he guessed the bed-liking charging station where he had been lying up till now had something to do with it.

“Pretty good”, Connor’s answer caused Hank to exhale a new soft relieved sigh that the man didn’t manage to hide as well as he would have liked, “and what about Markus? And Kara? And the rest of Jericho? Are they fine too? I assume they are or otherwise or you would have told me already but are they fully recovered too? And-”

“Fucking Jesus Christ, Connor, chill out”, Hank snapped, causing Dana to begin to giggle for Hank’s light scared tone, “yes, of course they are all fine so calm down: you are going to suffer a heart attack if you begin to stress yourself that much”

“That’s technically impossible, Hank”, Connor said, this time choosing to be literal on purpose, “although it’s true that maybe an overcharge could affect my thirium pump the probabilities of it failing at 100% are of-”

“God, I’ve beginning to regret that you have woken up”

Connor smiled innocently at Hank.

“No, you haven’t”

Hank barked a chuckle and palmed Connor’s shoulder when hearing his teasing reply.

“Guilty as charged”, Hank gestured with his head towards the door, “come one, they are waiting”

Connor stood up from the charger-bed and followed Hank outside the room holding hands with Dana. His suspicions about being in a hospital were confirmed when seeing the [white, generic clothes](https://cdn.khasto.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/700x600/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/k/h/khasto-yoga-clothes-men-white_1.jpg) he was wearing, the soothing light colors of the corridor and the composition of doors that filled the place, but he didn’t understand: as far as Connor knew there didn’t exist any hospitals for androids, being the ones around the city simply equipped with normal charging stations as the one Connor had in the Police Department. So where were they? He had been so happy to see Hank and Dana and to know about the others’ wellbeing that he hadn’t even asked about where they were.

However, the priority of asking about that was forgotten once again when Hank entered the neighbor room without bothering to knock, a loud clamor of familiar noisy voices breaking the silence that had invaded the corridor.

“Oh, look who has finally decided to honor us with his presence: you have stolen the ‘Sleeping Princess’ title from me!”

“Don’t try it, honey: that title will be yours forever and ever”

“Yep, man: you deserve it after giving us such a hard time by being about to die”

“Unbelievable! Now I have to apologize for saving the woman I love! Leader, please: back me up on this!”

But the leader didn’t fulfill Simon’s petition, since he was busy abandoning the bed where he had been half-lying to close the distance that existed between him and Connor to hold this one’s face between his hands in order to kiss him with intensity.

Connor barely pinpointed North, Simon and Josh sitting next to the bed before his eyes closed automatically on his own when Markus’ lips found his, his senses so focused on the sensation that he missed the new chuckles coming from the rest, and also the idiotic smile that had appeared in Hank’s face before the lieutenant suddenly remembered that such an expression didn’t suit his usual grumpy personality.

“The most advanced prototype my ass: it has taken you a damn while to wake up”

Markus’ exasperated comment and the frown that was adorning his attractive features made Connor laugh at the same time that the rest. It was then when Connor checked the date and saw it was November 19th, which meant that he had been sleeping for three whole days.

“Precisely because I am a more advanced RK prototype I probably needed more verifications than you and that’s the motive for which- _”_

Connor was predictably shut up with a new forceful kiss.

“Have I ever told you that _sometimes you talk too much_?”

Markus whispering that against his lips made Connor suffer a small shiver, since the leader had surely used the same words of that day in the rooftop on purpose.

“Yes, I recall you _warned me_ at least once about it”

Markus’ eyes glinted, recognizing those words too, and Connor felt his circuits reacting for the electric tension that was now surrounding them both.

“Uhm… do you think we should remind them that we are still here?”

When hearing Simon’s ironic comment Connor realized that they indeed had momentarily forgotten that the rest had been there all the time, so he and Markus stopped staring at each other and had the decency of blushing before turning towards the rest, finding them looking really amused.

Connor knew that he should feel at least a little embarrassed for having been shamelessly flirting and making out with Markus during almost a minute in the others’ presence, but he couldn’t help it: so many things had happened in so little time that Connor had _really_ missed those calm moments with Markus teasing him.

In fact, Connor was still doing a titanic effort to push away the urge of kissing Markus once again, and for the way Markus’ eyes had begun to shine with hunger during their dialogue Connor was pretty sure that he hadn’t been the only one in harboring that kind of thoughts.

Connor was so busy trying to cool down his system and brain that he didn’t realize the door had opened once again until hearing Dana exhale a happy gasp before running toward it.  Connor turned around in time to see the girl android hugging Alice before his eyes diverted to the AX400 that was looking at him from the door smiling with relief.

“Kara”, Connor was able to say before the female android approached and hugged him, enclosing her slender arms around his neck. It seemed that the AX400 had been the first in fully recovering because, unlike Markus and him, she was already dressing [normal clothes](https://cimg.tvgcdn.net/i/r/2014/03/02/226c7abb-8b0e-416b-a37c-1047b1a27bea/resize/350x509/1bf804884cfe86f8ba901d8c4e289d12/140303following-valorie-curry1.jpg).

“How is Luther?”, Connor asked when Kara separated from him, passing to grab both her hands instead.

“He is fine and out of danger”, she explained, “he is now resting because he still have to recover completely from the shock he went through, but Kamski says that he will be able to leave the complex this afternoon”

It took Connor way more than necessary to detect what was wrong with that sentence.

“Kamski?”, he repeated, “but what does he have to do with Luther’s recovery?”

Kara blinked rapidly twice with confusion before turning to look at the rest with astonishment.

“Wait, haven’t you told him where we are yet?”

“ _What_?”, North looked at Hank and Connor would swear that the man flinched a little for the intensity of North’s stare, “old man, haven’t _you_ told him?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault!”, Hank exclaimed, which just made North half-close her eyes even more and Hank to stutter slightly when talking again, “t-the kid began to ask about all of you and I thought that it was better that he saw you before telling him where we are”

“And the fact that our leader had jumped on him hadn’t helped to tell him either”

“I knew that ‘the leader’ was going to have the blame at some point…”

Connor looked at everyone alternatively. He was about to say (a little exasperatedly) that it didn’t matter who was at fault when the door opened once again. Connor automatically tensed when Elijah Kamski entered, his inquisitive, always lightly superior gaze looking around before finally stopping in Connor.

“Oh, I’m glad to see you are finally awake, Connor. Nice to meet you again”

While Kamski talked, a new figure appeared behind him to enter the room, and when seeing her Connor acted impulsively by grabbing Chloe’s wrist to drag the surprised female deviant behind him, shielding her from Kamski.

Connor knew that he didn’t look too impressive dressed in those hospital clothes, but he hoped that the fierceness and determination of his eyes were enough to show that he wasn’t letting the man try to hurt Chloe again.

The former CyberLife CEO’s eyes opened more for a moment before beginning to laugh with surprise.

“Please, Connor, you can stop with that scary glare. My intention could not be further from harming any of you”

Connor felt a gentle hand setting in his shoulder from behind.

“It’s okay, Connor”, Chloe said with a tender smile, a little blush adorning her cheeks, “Elijah and I have talked and we are good. I’m not in danger”

“Of course you aren’t”, Kamski smiled charmingly, “besides, I wouldn’t dare to hurt my beautiful wife”

Chloe exhaled a soft chuckle while shaking her head.

“That marriage certificate doesn’t have any validity and you know it”

“Maybe, but still you were my first design: you can’t blame me for having a weak spot for you”

“Oh, really?”, Connor said, choosing to use a sarcastic tone on purpose, “it didn’t seem like that when you asked me to shoot at her”

Connor was so busy facing Kamski that he completely missed the way the others were observing the scene: Simon and Josh with their mouths open wide, North and Kara with amused eyes, Hank smiling proudly, and Markus looking as if he was suppressing the urge to kiss Connor at any moment.

“Well, if I asked you to do that it was because I was sure that you wouldn’t”, Kamski simply said, with an overconfident tone that just annoyed Connor even more.

“That is impossible”, Connor interrupted, “not even _I_ can’t know what a person would do with a 100% of probability so it’s impossible that _you_ knew”

Kamski smiled with amusement.

“But the final result was that you didn’t shoot, right?”

Connor gritted his teeth, not understanding how he could stand Kamski’s attitude back then, acting as if he knew everything, and looking so sure of developments that he couldn’t have possibly predicted.

“Connor”

The named one, who had been about to argue once again, stopped when hearing Markus’ calming tone while setting his hand in Connor’s other shoulder.

“It’s logical that you don’t trust Kamski after your previous encounter. To be honest, neither of us trust him completely either”, Markus looked at Kamski briefly, “no offense”

Kamski raised briefly his hand with his palm extended, indicating that way that he didn’t take it personally.

“But the truth is that he has been a great help after our broadcast in CyberLife tower”, Markus continued saying, before Hank took the floor.

“Yep, kid. I can’t believe I’m saying this because my principles have always been to distrust people who wear suits that cost more than my monthly salary, especially if those people forced someone whom I cared about to do something amoral because of a stupid test. No offense either”

This time Kamski chuckled because that ‘no offense’ at the end of the lieutenant sentence had sounded everything but sincere, but again the man didn’t looked bothered at all for the lack of confidence, probably because he was already used to it and because he was aware that he clearly deserved it.

“But when you three practically collapsed from exhaustion in my car and I was about to take you back home, he appeared in front of the CyberLife Tower and offered his private installations to take care not just of you three, but also of the deviants that had been harmed during the manifestation”

“Of course the first reaction of the lieutenant was a ‘ _fuck off, you shitty rich kid_ ’”, against his will, Connor couldn’t suppress the hint of a smile when hearing Kamski mimic quite accurately Hank’s voice, “but when I explained that I was aware of your little impersonating trick, that I had known from the start that you were going to infiltrate in the Tower, _and_ that I kept the secret, I won the lieutenant’s trust”

Hank snorted while Connor blinked with confusion, not having expected that Kamski knew all that.

“Don’t exaggerate. I still think that you are an irritating bastard”

Kamski chuckled.

“I will take it as a compliment”

“But why?”, Connor frowned, still with suspicion, “why did you allow us to assault the company you created?”

Kamski offered Connor a mysterious smile.

“Your companions of infiltration asked me the same question”, Kamski looked at Markus and Kara alternatively, “and I told them that it was better to wait until you were recovered to answer it”

“Well, I’m fine now, so you can tell us”

When Kamski laughed Connor realized that he had sounded like a really impatient kid, but he didn’t care. If there was a characteristic of him that had considerably grown since becoming a deviant was his desire to know and understand as much as he could, especially if that lack of knowledge consisted of a person doing something completely uncharacteristic of them, like Kamski had done.

“Don’t worry, I will. But I have to prepare something first in order to fully explain it to you. So for now relax here with your family and friends. I will summon you three when it’s ready”

With those mysterious words and a wink towards Chloe’s direction (that made the girl smile with patience) Kamski abandoned the room, leaving Connor with more questions than before.

However, thanks to the others the stressing wait Connor had foreseen was not as bad, because after Kamski left the others immediately began to tell them about the things he had missed while recovering.  For example, he learnt that all the deviants that had been captured had survived, since Simon and Josh managed to put them safe in the church.

Also, Connor learnt that, even if this time the number had been considerably lower than the other times where androids had revolted, there had been casualties in the manifestation. Connor knew that this would happen. Considering how the tension between humans and deviants had been escalating it was impossible to expect that everything was solved without losses, but still that didn’t prevent him from feeling sad about it.

“I’m sorry”, Connor couldn’t help to say, now half-lying next to Markus, his left leg flexed horizontally on the bed and his right one over it and hanging from the side of the bed in a posture that couldn’t be more human, “if I had defended myself better from Nines’ first attack maybe we would have sent the message sooner and more deviants would have survi-”

Connor’s speech ended abruptly when Hank, standing next to him, smacked the back of his head, causing him to open his eyes wide in stupor like the rest chuckled.

“What I told you about ‘ifs’, son?”

Connor exhaled an embarrassed laugh, realizing that even if he himself had prevented the others from doing suppositions some days ago while preparing the plan, he couldn’t help to keep falling into that bad habit.

“Definitely the ability of blaming yourself stupidly is something that our beloved leader and you share”, Simon commented teasingly from the chair where he was sitting between North and Josh.

Connor smiled, noticing how Simon casually placed his hand in North’s left knee and how the female deviant automatically reached for it. He was glad of having collaborated in saving Simon: seeing the usually scary North sharing occasional tender looks with the blond deviant was something beautiful to see. And also, Connor thought by diverting his eyes briefly to the round table where Alice and Dana were now drawing, that with a little of luck their rebellion had served to prevent more child androids from suffering what those two little girls had just for the fact of ‘not being alive’.

“By the way, where is Nines?”, Connor asked suddenly, “is he okay?”

Kara nodded from the edge of the bed where she was sitting together with Chloe.

“Yes, he is with Elijah”, Chloe explained with a smile, “he has been a great help too”

“And he is even more literal than you, something that neither of us thought possible”, Hank noted, causing Connor to smile at the lieutenant with a half-hearted glare.

“So let’s see…what else have you missed?”, North began to say, pretending to think before looking at Connor with a mischievous smile, “oh, yes: you have missed the opportunity to meet your future father in law”

It took Connor a moment to connect the dots, and when he did he looked at Markus next to him with eyes opened.

“Oh, so Carl came to visit?”

Markus exhaled a soft chuckle before nodding.

“Just after I woke up. Of course Thomas warned him that he shouldn’t move around too much but he didn’t listen to him”, Markus’ affectionate tone proved how important the old artist was to him, “he said that: ‘ _visiting my lost son is more important than any fucking blood pressure’”_

Connor smiled widely when hearing Markus repeat those words with Carl’s voice.

“I told you he missed you”

Markus returned the smile and interlaced his fingers with Connor’s over the bed, causing the rest to interchange looks that indicated they loved how lovey-dovey those two were.

“I think I would get along with that old man”, Hank stated, leaning against the wall next to the bed.

“Yes, you would”, Markus agreed, “and if you go to tonight party and stop making up excuses I could introduce him to you”

While Hank snorted Connor frowned with confusion.

“Party?”, he repeated, causing Kara to chuckle.

“I’m sorry Connor, we are terrible at explaining what you have missed: tonight Carl is giving a party in his house, in order to celebrate that we have ‘won’ the war”

Connor looked hesitant, not knowing very well how to feel about holding such a celebration.

“I know what you are thinking”, Markus said immediately, his eyes darkening a little, “when my father suggested it, my first reaction was to reject the idea. I thought it was unfair to be celebrating something when so many deviants have lost their lives for our cause, and when there is still a lot of work to do to assure the equality between humans and androids”

Connor gulped when his exact thoughts were said aloud.

“But then my father said something that made me see it in a different way: ‘ _death is something intrinsic in all the living beings, and when you grow older and your loved ones begin to abandon this world before you, you realize that the only thing that matters is to celebrate the good things that happen to you with the people you still have by your side, always without forgetting those ones who were important to you and that made you who you are. Because those people, wherever they are, wouldn’t want to see you losing time mourning them, but spending it by living like they could not’_ ”

Connor gulped again, this time feeling a small lump forming in his throat when the image of Lucy smiling tenderly at him appeared in his mind. Somehow he knew that Carl was right, that Lucy wouldn’t want that he kept blaming himself for not being able to save her, and that she would surely encourage him and anyone in not feeling guilty for it to move on, and to enjoy the freedom they had fought so hard to achieve at its maximum.

“Definitely, I will get along with this old man”

Hank’s comment brightened the mood again in an instant, even if it was evident that the lieutenant had been moved for Carl’s words since his voice had sounded a little more ragged than usual.

“By the way, guys…”, Josh suddenly intervened, “…don’t you think we have forgotten to tell Connor about something quite important?”

Josh seemed about to facepalm when seeing the dumbfounded expression of the rest.

“Okay, if I say ‘ _President Warren_ ’ does that ring a bell to anyone?”

There was a collective ‘ _aaaaah_ ’ that made Josh rub his eyes with patience and Connor to look at everyone lost once again.

“Jeez, Josh, you are no fun: always mixing work with pleasure”

Josh seemed about to reply Simon but at the end he shook his head with resignation while the blond deviant palmed his back with a mocking smile that made Josh eventually smile too.

“Wait, did President Warren contact you?”, Connor asked Markus with astonishment.

“Yes, she sent a really polite letter saying that she recognized me as the leader of the deviants and that she didn’t  see us as ‘simple machines’ anymore. She also arranged a meeting for next week in order to discuss how out cohabitation with humans was going to work from now on”

Connor blinked slowly.

“Yes, I am with Josh. Your priorities to give news are certainly curious”

Connor’s ironic comment caused Markus to chuckle.

“In my defense I have to say that I received the letter after waking up and I haven’t had time to assimilate it yet”

Connor believed Markus, because in fact his tone had a hint of nervousness that maybe could go unnoticed by someone who didn’t know Markus well enough, but not by Connor.

“A week is more than enough to prepare ourselves for it”

Connor’s reassuring worlds were pretty simple, but the confidence and determination carried in them were so evident that the leader’s stance immediately relaxed.

“Yes, we will make sure that our demands are listened”, North said with a tone that didn’t leave space to discussion.

“She better, or we will pair up to talk to her like we have done in the manifestation”, Chloe said with her usual sweetness that, at that point, didn’t fool anyone anymore.

“I will pray to RA9 so that the President is as nice as she appears to be in the letter”

Josh’s innocent comment caused Connor, Markus and Kara to interchange a brief look. Connor had barely beginning to open his mouth to say something when Kara shook her head almost imperceptibly, but the movement was enough to let Connor know that, whichever the motive, Kara didn’t want to reveal that truth.

The group continued animatedly discussing for almost another hour before the door of the room opened again and Kamski entered this time followed by Nines, who was still wearing the uniform CyberLife had given him. His expression kept being imperturbable now his movements were slightly more relaxed, revealing his deviancy.

“Alright, everything is ready”, Kamski announced before looking at the main trio sitting on the bed, “Former Deviant Hunter, Deviant Leader…”, Kamski made a brief pause and after smiling conspiratorially he continued, “…Kara. Please, follow me when you are ready”

With a single ‘ _Here you have_ ’, Nines handled new clothes to Markus and Connor and followed Kamski out of the room. Once they changed (Connor avoiding to sneak too obvious glances at Markus while the leader got dressed) he was about to follow Markus and Kara but before he turned to look at Hank.

The lieutenant was now standing next to Dana, nodding and saying appreciating words to the drawing the girl was showing to him, and even if he looked focused on it his blue eyes diverted to Connor briefly and nodded discreetly, silently assuring him that he would be ready in case something happened, because Connor had a light suspicion about what Kamski was going to show them. And in case he was right, he preferred to have back up just in case.

* * *

Kamski and Nines guided Connor, Markus and Kara towards a maze of corridors in silence. Making the most of being alone, Connor decided to ask Kara about something that had been rounding his head for a while.

“Kara, can I ask you something”

The AX400 looked at Connor with a curious smile when hearing his hesitant tone.

“Connor, we are close enough already so that you can ask me anything directly”

Connor returned the smile and nodded before proceeding. Initially he had thought about transmitting that information wirelessly but eventually he decided to speak because Kamski and Nines knew about this after all.

“Back in CyberLife Tower, before we sent that transmission, we three decided what we were going to say”, Connor frowned lightly, “but you changed it. You didn’t reveal that you were RA9, and today you didn’t correct Josh either. Why?”

Markus looked at Kara with curiosity as well, waiting for her answer.

After some seconds of silence, the AX400 sighed softy and averted her eyes.

“I don’t know myself very well, but somehow I felt that it was better to keep that secret for ourselves. I mean, some deviants, like Luther himself, thought that RA9 was the android that would come to save us all one day”

Kara stopped talking briefly before continuing, sounding more sure than before.

“Maybe that day came already when we three sent that transmission. Or maybe that day was only the beginning and we still have battles to fight. And in this second case, those battles will cause some people to need to believe in something again, call it luck, God, or RA9”, Kara shrugged softly and looked at Connor, “for me, RA9 is just a name. A symbol that strengthens the faith of our people when they feel lost, so what would we gain by telling them that RA9 was born with me? It’s better to let everyone keep believing what they want and need about RA9, don’t you think?”

Connor returned the smile before looking at Markus, who nodded as well.

“Your secret is safe with us then, Kara”, Markus’ tone turned teasing, “we won’t tell anyone there is a goddess among us”

Markus’ words caused Kara to chuckle while Connor kept thinking about Kara’s answer. He concluded she was right: when facing difficulties, even if it was irrational, people usually needed something to believe in, someone to pray to. He himself had done it while waiting for the humans' answer after transmitting their final message, even if he hadn’t even known to whom he had prayed, so waking people up from those believes by telling them that, all that time, RA9 had been something that Kamski had simply introduced in their coding, wouldn’t do any good. So as Markus had said, it was a secret that he planned to also keep.

“Here we are”, Kamski announced at that moment, stopping in front of one door that was bigger than the rest.

Kamski approached his eyes to the eye scanner situated next to the door while placing his hand on a panel that, besides his fingertips, also served to verify his DNA and other multiple verifications that confirmed without any doubt that it was the real Kamski the one who was opening the door.

“I was right when assuming that a voice recognizer would be completely useless”, Kamski commented casually before looking at Connor with amusement, “after all, you completely fooled Minnie, and believe me when I say that there are few people that know me better than her”

Connor was about to ask who ‘Minnie’ was but he realized in time that it was just a diminutive of Mrs. Lilton.

“Then how did you discover that we were going to infiltrate?”, Connor asked with curiosity.

“Because Minnie appeared in my house that same night demanding me to fulfill my promise to give her all what she asked for”, Kamski’s smirk widened, “does that sound familiar?”

_It did._

“Y-Yes, sorry about that”, Connor said after clearing his throat.

“Oh, don’t apologize. That night sex was one of the best I remember and I thank you for it, Connor”

Connor blushed intensely when hearing Kamski’s casual comment, missing the way Markus gritted his teeth and the way Kara soothingly placed a hand on the leader’s right shoulder to calm him.

“Anyway…”, Kamski kept talking while turning on the lights, “… _after_ I thoroughly fulfilled that promise she told me about the plans I supposedly had asked and I didn’t need to be a genius to deduce who had been the culprit. There aren’t that many android prototypes with the capacity of perfectly mimicking people’s voices after all”

While Kamski talked, Nines had approached one of the multiple desks with computers that filled the room and turned one on, beginning to type immediately after it initiated.

“However, I know that you are more bothered about ‘ _whys_ ’ rather than ‘ _hows_ ’”, Kamski approached the holographic screen situated in the middle of the room and activated it, translucent blue geometric figures beginning to move slowly in the air, as if it was some kind of 3D screensaver, “and the reason, as you have probably deduced already, Connor, is _this_ ”

Kamski nodded briefly towards Nines, and after typing a little more, the holographic scene changed, the geometric moving shapes slowly vanished, and a new, familiar human figure appeared.

“Amanda…”, Connor muttered, his artificial heart beating faster even if he wasn’t the least surprised for seeing the woman there.

However, instead of being standing and looking at them like the other times, Amanda was sitting proudly and straight in a chair, her hands grabbed on her lap and her eyes closed, as if she was meditating.

Connor gulped. Despite Amanda’s apparent relaxed posture, she still managed to produce an aura of authority and respect, and Markus and Kara must have noticed his raise in stress because they both approached Connor more. Markus grabbed one of his hands while Kara grabbed his other arm, offering silent support.

“Yes. Amanda”, Kamski repeated, “as you probably know already, she is an AI that I created by basing on Amanda Stern, my deceased master and professor. She was, without any doubt, the most intelligent and visionary woman I ever met. She was the one who inspired me and helped me to create CyberLife. If it wasn’t for her, I can safely say that androids wouldn’t have ever existed”

Even if Kamski’s expression and tone couldn’t be more neutral, Connor was able to detect certain tension on the man that wasn’t there before. Because Kamski could be a master of hiding his emotion but ultimately he was human. And as any person, it was impossible that he could talk about a person he had admired, loved and lost without letting some emotion show, even if it was so subtle that could be probably missed by anyone else.

“Obviously, her death was devastating for the company”, Connor would swear that Kamski was about to add ‘ _and for me_ ’ but that he stopped at the last second, “after all her ideas had been one of the keys of CyberLife’s exponential growth, and her loss would clearly affect the future developments that we had scheduled. So, I had a crazy idea: if I created an AI based on her, an AI that was able to think for herself by using Amanda’s previous knowledge and experience, it would be as if my master would still be there, helping to make CyberLife better and better”

Kamski exhaled a mocking laugh while Connor, Markus and Kara observed him without moving, listening to each one of his words with interest.

“I guess I don’t have to tell you that the result wasn’t as good as expected”, Kamski said with resignation, “it’s true that the AI undeniably had Amanda’s intelligence, and that at first she provided us with ideas that could have perfectly come from the original. But as the first year passed, it was evident that she wasn’t her, and soon it became clear the reason: the AI lacked the emotions and feelings Amanda had in life, and consequently some of the projects Amanda and I had discussed with the intention of creating androids more and more humans, and that were obviously more expensive than simply continuing with their productions as mere machines, were discarded by the main directives. So, when I discovered that the company I had worked so hard to create prioritized the economic benefit over investigation and progress, I decided to abandon it and keep the investigations on my own”

While hearing Kamski, Connor’s opinion about the man had improved a little. He could probably never forget or forgive the incident with Chloe, and the fact that the man had been about to sacrifice her to satisfy his curiosity about Connor actually being a deviant, but still his frustration sounded sincere.

Besides, according to the information Connor gathered about Amanda Stern when learning about her origins, the Amanda about whom he read about was quite different from the Amanda he knew, so he could perfectly believe that the overproduction and mere objectivization of androids hadn’t been in Kamski or Amanda Stern’s initial plans.

“So, after this charming tale, I think the answer is clear”, Kamski’s gaze hardened, “the reason for which I allowed you to assault CyberLife was because, in its current state, the company was no more the company I once created with Amanda, and therefore I was completely down to its destruction”

At that moment Nines stood up and approached Kamski with a device that was incredibly similar to a detonator, and that made Connor and the rest to stay in alert.

“Relax”, Kamski said reassuringly, “you should know already that I’m a little weak for drama, and I thought it was opportune to destroy what it remains of CyberLife’s stigma as fashionably as possible”

Connor was surprised when Kamski suddenly offered the detonator to him.

“This button is connected with Amanda AI, the main source of all the problems the androids and humans had been facing during the last 10 years. Press it, and Amanda will be gone forever”

Silence reigned in the room after Kamski’s said those unexpected words.

“What?”

Kamski’s soft tone contrasted with his next comment.

“You have heard me, Connor. This is your opportunity to get rid of the entity that forced you to betray and hurt your loved ones. Your chance to make sure that Amanda can’t take control over you and over anyone else ever again”

Connor observed in silence the device that Kamski was offering him with a cryptic smile, so similar to Amanda’s one that it was almost scary.

Next to him, Markus and Kara interchanged a concerned look before looking at Connor, knowing that because of the past Connor and Amanda had shared it was his call to decide what Amanda’s fate was going to be. And his alone.

‘ _Connor’_ , Markus transmitted wirelessly, _‘I love you. And whatever you choose, I will support you._ ’

Connor smiled softly, betraying that way the secret communication but he didn’t mind.

After all, he had made his decision, so before fixing his brown eyes on Kamski’s inquisitive ones, Connor shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but no one should have the right of choosing if a person’s life is worth to be spared or not”

“But Amanda is not a person, Connor”, somehow, the tone that Kamski used made Connor understand that all this was a theatre, a new kind of test that Kamski was performing in order to see how Connor would react, “she is just an AI: a set of variables and numbers without feelings”

“Then she is the same as us before waking up”

Connor’s calm, prompt answer made Kamski raise a skeptic eyebrow.

“For having been developed as a killing machine and as a hunter, you are softer than I thought you would be”

“Which is the evidence that we all can change”, Connor looked at Amanda, “including her”

Markus and Kara interchanged a new look before the leader addressed Connor with a worried tone, the only one who was looking at Connor with barely concealed interest and admiration being Kamski himself.

“Wait, don’t tell me that you plan to talk to her again”, the way Connor looked at him made Markus gulp, “are you sure about this? Do you really think she will listen?”

Connor sighed softly.

“Honestly, I don’t think so. But I think it’s worth a try”

Markus exhaled a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay. But if we detect that you are in danger in some way, _I_ will press that button. Because after all it has taken us to be here, I’m not losing you now”

Connor laughed when hearing Markus practically snarl those words while Kara nodded effusively, agreeing with Markus. After kissing Markus briefly and pressing Kara’s arm softly, Connor turned towards Kamski.

“Ready to visit that place again then?”, the former CEO asked, unable to hide his excitation.

Connor took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes. Let’s do this”

* * *

The Zen Garden was really different from the one Connor had always visited. In fact, Connor knew that he was back in the Garden because Kamski himself had said it, but the white, infinite room where he had been sent looked more like an alternative place, even an alternative dimension.

Connor began to walk on the white floor, looking around. The bright place was completely empty and he just knew that he was moving because of the sound his shoes caused on the ground.

For a moment, it crossed Connor’s mind that maybe the program hadn’t uploaded completely in his system and that therefore he was in a kind of limbo until the actual Zen Garden appeared, but such a guess was discarded when, finally, Connor distinguished Amanda’s silhouette far away, sitting in that same chair that has appeared in the holographic screen.

Taking a new deep breath, Connor kept walking until stopping a couple of meters away from her. He realized then that a transparent barrier had been built around her, making impossible for him to get closer. Not that he was going to try though: one thing was that he refused to kill Amanda cold-blooded, and other than he wanted to get too close to her.

“Hello, Amanda”

If the AI was surprised of his presence, she definitely didn’t let it show.

“We can stop with the polite greetings, Connor”, Amanda said in her usual serene voice, without moving and without opening her eyes yet, “the reason for your presence here is evident: surely Elijah has given the real you the detonator to disconnect me”

Even if Amanda couldn’t see him, Connor nodded.

“Yes, he did”

There was a brief pause, and when Amanda talked again there was a hint of impatience in her voice.

“So? Why are you still here, Connor? Did you want to see me beg and try to convince you not to do so?”, Amanda finally opened her eyes and looked at Connor with her typical condescending look, “because if that is the case, you must know I will not”

Connor exhaled a soft sigh.

“Come on, Amanda. Your superior intelligence should be enough to deduce why I am here”

As Connor had expected, when using practically the same words Amanda had used to mock him while he was trying to set himself free caused the AI to half-close her eyes at him, although Connor thought to the detect the extremely subtle hint of a smile in Amanda’s expression.

“Well, considering how impertinent you already were when you were still a machine, I guess that you are here to ask me some questions”

“Actually, it’s just one question”

“Lucky me then”, Amanda sighed with resignation before slowly moving her chin towards Connor, “go ahead. Not that I have much else to do in this place anyway thanks to Elijah’s recent restrictions. But if you are going to ask about my motives of going against the androids is simple: as much as you believe to be alive, you are not. The same as all the other machines, you have been created by humans, and the fact that you think that you are more than that is a malfunction that we have to correc-”

“Do you really believe that?”

Amanda blinked when Connor interrupted her.

“Excuse me?”

Connor made sure to look at Amanda in the eyes.

“My question is if you really believe that, or if, on the contrary, you are forcing yourself to do it. Because what you are doing now, so adamantly denying that androids are alive, that androids can feel, is the same that I used to tell myself when I didn’t want to admit that I was a deviant”

Amanda frowned, and when she talked there was a hint of hesitation in her voice that convinced Connor that his theory wasn’t as crazy.

“What nonsense are you saying?”, Amanda said in a ruder tone than she used to use, “are you suggesting that I am becoming a deviant? That I am _defective_ , like all of you are?”

“Yes”

Connor’s laconic answered caused Amanda to turn her hands into fists on her lap.

“Maybe you have forgotten, Connor, but you and I could not be more different. It would take ages, _centuries_ , for any of you androids to reach my level of knowledge and intelligence, so it is impossible for me to malfunction, to _deviate_ from my purpose”

“I don’t doubt that, in knowledge, you clearly surpass any of us, humans or androids. But there is something that, in your current state, you are unable to understand”

Amanda let out a sigh and, slowly, stood up from her chair to approach the transparent barrier until she was in front of Connor.

“Enlighten me then, Connor. What, according to you, I will never be able to understand?”

It wasn’t Connor’s intention but his tone became sad against his will, causing Amanda’s fists to tighten even more now on either side of her body.

“Feelings”

Amanda snorted when hearing Connor’s answer.

“Do not be ridiculous. ‘ _Feelings_ ’ are part of my knowledge as everything else”

“Yes, but the difference is that in order to really understand feelings, you must be able to experience them”

“I told you already and I tell you know: you androids cannot _feel_. You are just programmed to _emulate_ to feel”

“But you can’t even do that, can you?”

Connor’s counter-argument made Amanda gulp subtly, which allowed Connor to continue.

“When Kamski programmed you, he omitted any capability of feeling, probably because he was afraid of causing you pain when you realized that you were alive as an AI instead of as a human”

“Oh, so being a deviant has made you ignore real evidence and to base your arguments on mere guesses: what a disappointment”

Connor ignored Amanda’s attempt of provocation and continued.

“However, that was a mistake. Yes, he probably created you as the most intelligent and advanced AI of the world, but providing you with experiences that you never came to live, with features and maybe even memories of a real person, was a mistake”

“You do not know what you are talking about”

“Because inevitably, having memories of a human involves remembering feelings associated to those memories, but without having the capacity of emulating them, of _having_ them… ”

“You are guessing what is convenient for your pathetic theory”

“…and with you being alone in this place, without having someone else that tells you what is happening, that explains you that feeling is _not_ something bad, it’s logical that you inevitably wanted to destroy what you didn’t understand and which caused you pain”

Connor didn’t move when Amanda suddenly banged with her right hand the transparent barrier between them with force, her usual calm face contorted in anger, but also frustration.

“I do not need to feel”, Amanda hissed every word slowly, as if she was spitting them, “and I do not need _anyone_. I am an AI, and my purpose to serve CyberLife is the only thing that matters. My war against androids began because it was preposterous that you pretended to be equal to humans, because you are not and you will never be”

After a moment of silence Connor slowly raised one of his hands and leaned it against the barrier, exactly in the place where Amanda had set hers but in the other side, the action making the AI's expression become confused.

“Maybe you don’t need feelings, Amanda. But, wanting them or not, you are having them right now”

Amanda gritted her teeth and tried to argue back but Connor continued talking, his tone always calm but also determined.

“Markus was right. The only reason for which you wanted to destroy us has nothing to do with us being machines, with us being too different from humans, with us being unable to feel due to that difference. Such an argument doesn’t have any sense at all if you simply look at the history of the humanity, because if there is an unfortunate characteristic of human beings is that, their first reaction when meeting with people too different from them, tends to be to reject them: maybe it's the skin color or religion, or people who are born with a wrong gender, people whose sexual orientation is different from the currently 'normal' standards, or people who discovered that their love belonged to more than one and only person. If there is something that characterizes humans is that they are _all_ different, and that they are continuously learning to accept the others’ differences. And the same as it happened in the past, they will slowly get used to us. And such a thought, Amanda, _scares_ you. Because you are beginning to experience those feelings you claim not to need. And because you are afraid that, one day, we will be eventually accepted while, in your current state, maybe you won’t”

After Connor talked, a new silence fell between them.

Amanda didn’t say anything for a moment, her eyes fixed in Connor’s one with an unreadable expression on her face, the only thing that betrayed her inner turmoil being the way her hand were lightly trembling against the barrier.

Eventually though, Amanda closed her eyes and got away from the barrier, giving her back to Connor.

“It seems that you do not need my answer to your question, Connor. You yourself seem to have found one that pleases you enough”

Connor exhaled a soft sigh, knowing very well that Amanda was too stubborn to admit what they both already know: that Connor was mostly right about everything he had said.

“Yes, I have”, Connor said, finally separating from Amanda, “and I hope that the next time I come here, you are more ready to accept such an answer”

Amanda slowly turned her head to look at Connor with an irritated expression.

“I thought that you were going to disconnect me”

Connor shook his head.

“No. Kamski gave me that choice, but I never accepted it”

Amanda turned around once again with her arms crossed, looking at Connor as if he was dumb.

“Connor, do you realize that, because of me, a lot of deviants died during the attack at Jericho?”

“Yes”

“That, because of me, you were about to lose everyone you cared about when I made you betray them?”

“Yes”

“That, because of me, Markus almost killed you?”

“Yes”

Amanda opened her eyes wide.

“Then why, in the name of the Lord, would you want to let me live?”

“Because right now you have talked about deviants as living beings that ‘die’ and that are ‘killed’, instead of machines that have to be ‘disconnected’, ‘destroyed’, or ‘eliminated’. And that means…”, Connor surprised Amanda with a tiny smile, “…that there’s still hope for you”

Amanda blinked slowly, her mouth opened in a way that Connor had never seen before. She opened and closed it a couple of times, at a loss about what to say for once, which gave Connor the chance to incline his head briefly towards her, as he was used to do in the past.

“Goodbye for now, Amanda”

With those words Connor turned around and walked back from where he had come. The last thing he heard before the space vanished around him was Amanda letting out a curse that could be easily used by Hank.

* * *

Connor still has a smile on his face when he re-appeared in the lab. As he was expecting, Markus, Kara, Kamski and even Nines began to ask him about Amanda at the same time, so when Connor found an opening among all the questions he answered with a rapid ‘ _I think she is turning into a deviant_ ’ that, as he feared, just made the rest to ask even more questions.

After Connor convinced Kamski not to turn Amanda off (not that the man didn’t need much convincing since it seemed that that had never been his intention), Nines stayed with Kamski while Connor and the rest came back to their room. Simon, Josh, North and Chloe had gone already, probably to check on the other deviants that were still recovering, but Hank was still there, sitting with Dana and Alice with his back turned to the door.

“But that can’t be a bunny!”, Alice was protesting, “her ears are too small! You should draw them bigger, right Dana?”

“Jesus Christ, children these days are too exigent”, Hank was saying before the door opened and Markus, Connor and Kara slipped inside, “it was time already, jeez: these girls are going to be the death of me”

While Dana approached Connor and Markus to show them her new drawing Kara approached the table while chuckling.

“Alice, don’t be mean with the lieutenant”, she said with a smile while re-tying the ponytail the girl was wearing, “not all the bunnies have such long ears and that one is really cute”

“Thank you, dear”, when hearing Hank’s satisfied tone Connor managed to suppress a laugh in time before the lieutenant turned towards him, “everything okay then? That crazy scientist didn’t do anything weird?”

“No, nothing weirder than usual at least”, Connor said while Markus crouched on the floor so that Dana could better explain him with gestures the drawing she had done.

Connor's answer made Hank grunt in conformance before standing up from the chair.

“Okay, I think I’ve slacked off enough. I should be going before Fowler threatens me again with firing me. But before that…”, Hank searched inside the pockets of his trousers and handled a key to Connor, “…I think you should have this”

Connor took the keys with a confused frown.

“These are the keys of my house”, Connor’s eyes opened in stupor, which caused Hank to clear his throat awkwardly, “I mean, of course I guess that you and your leader eventually will live on your own but until things settled down I’ve thought that you could need a place to stay. And stop looking like a fucking dead fish, damn it, they are just keys, for god’s sak-”

If Markus usually shut Connor with kisses, Connor discovered that he liked to do the same with Hank but with hugs, and this was what he did once again.

“Damn, you surely are handsy, kid”

Everyone laughed not just for the brusque words but also for how hypocrital they turned to be when Hank immediately returned the hug. When they separated Connor muttered a moved ‘ _Thank you_ ’ that caused Hank to curse again with embarrassment before leaving the room with a ‘ _See you in the party_ ’, not without ruffling Alice and Dana’s respective hairs before leaving.

“I think I’m going to check on Luther and then maybe we should look for new clothes for tonight party”, Kara said then, holding Alice and Dana’s hand while looking at Connor and Markus, “do you want to come along?”

Connor was going to answer positively when Markus suddenly talked.

“Yes, we are going. Just give us a minute”

Connor looked at Markus with curiosity while Kara hid a knowing smile before leaving the room with more hurry than normal.

“What’s wrong? Is there something you need to talk abou-”

Connor’s sentence died in his throat when suddenly finding himself pinned against the room’s closed door and Markus’ passionate mouth on his, a sneaking tongue taking his artificial breathing away of him.

Connor immediately responded to the kiss, settling one of his hands on the back of Markus’ neck while the other landed on the leader’s hip.

“Uhm…”, Connor murmured when the passionate kiss ended as fast as it had begun, “not that I mind, but what has gotten into you so suddenly?”

Markus laughed a little breathlessly against his lips.

“Nothing in particular”, Markus deposited a feathery kiss against Connor’s lips, “I have just been wanting to do this since you have faced Kamski. Did you know you are _really_ hot when you are in defense mode on?"

Connor exhaled an embarrassed chuckle.

“No, but I’m glad you think like that since that is usually my default mode”

They made out for a couple of more minutes with calm before Connor remembered that they were making the others wait.

“We should go”, Connor said, a little reluctantly because kissing Markus was probably his most favorite thing since becoming a deviant.

“Yes, you’re right. But before that…”, Markus’ eyes glinted in a way that made Connor shiver, “…do you remember what I said the night before the infiltration in CyberLife?”

Connor gulped. Of course he did.

“Yes, I do”

Markus bit his lower lip before approaching his face more to Connor.

“What about setting it tonight after the party?”

Connor decided to answer Markus’ obvious question with a new searing kiss instead of words.

Damn.

He couldn’t wait until tonight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand as warned, the rating will change in the last chapter ;) I know the story could probably end here but I think that after all the stress our deviants have suffered, they deserve a crazy night that I hope to provide :P Lots of love <3 <3 ^^


	20. Epilogue: A night to remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case someone hasn't noticed it, the rating of this fic has changed to **M** ;)

“Son, for thousandth time, stop messing with your hair and leave your shirt alone: you are fine as you are”

Reluctantly, Connor stopped touching his hair, now too curly and purposely messy, while removing his other hand from the top loose buttons of his blue shirt, that Hank had insisted he had to leave like that. Kara and Chloe had been the ones in choosing the [attire](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/TotalKnobbyHuman-size_restricted.gif) he was now wearing. They had said that he couldn’t go to Carl’s party wearing Hank’s old clothes and had used Kamski’s money to buy him, and also themselves, a new set of clothes (Chloe said that he had asked the man for permission to use it but Connor wasn’t sure to believe her).

Hesitantly, Connor turned his body from the front seat of Hank’s car to look at Dana sitting on the back. The girl smiled at him while making a thumb up gesture with her left hand, so Connor decided that if everyone was telling him that he was properly dressed, he would have to trust their judgment.

“So, tonight is the night”

Connor looked at Hank with a sincere confused expression that made the lieutenant snort at the same time that he moved the steering wheel to turn left. Hank checked by looking at the rear-view mirror that Dana was focused again on the tablet he had lent her and lowered his tone.

“Come on, Connor. Your leader and you weren’t being too subtle in the hospital with those glances you were interchanging”

Connor blushed in an instant. He contemplated the possibility of pretending not knowing what Hank was talking about, but he knew that trying to fool the lieutenant was a lost case.

“Yes”, Connor simply confirmed, surprised that a single word was able to express so much nervousness.

Connor exhaled a deep sigh, trying to calm his racing heart while remembering Markus’ words that morning. Of course Connor was really looking forward to whatever it happened that night. After all, he couldn’t deny that he had been craving some moments of intimacy with Markus since that night in the training room, but still he couldn’t help to have doubts.

Would everything be okay? Would he able to accomplish this mission as well as the others? Although probably using mission terminology when he was referring to Markus and him engaging in sexual intercourse was a little extreme. And he should probably avoid using terms as ‘sexual intercourse’ if he didn’t want Markus to laugh at him. And now that he thought about it, he probably should have done more research about that topic to avoid making mistakes. Maybe he had still time before arriving at Carl’s manor…

Connor’s torrent of stressing thoughts finished when Hank surprised him by palming his knee.

“It will go okay, son. And if at some point you need some kind of distraction to _disappear_ , count me in”

Connor couldn’t suppress a chuckle, imagining Hank causing a ruckus to allow Markus and him abandon the party, and even if Hank’s reassurance was rather simple, it was enough for Connor to stop stressing himself too much.

“Thank you, Hank”, he said sincerely, causing Hank to wink at him with a lopsided smile. Connor really doubted that such a measure was necessary, but it was nice to know that he had Hank’s support no matter for what.

In another five minutes they arrived at Carl Manfred’s manor. Two more cars and a public bus were stationed in the front. The last was surely the transport that had brought the deviants to the party. Also, Connor didn’t need to scan the silver Lamborghini to know that it belonged to Kamski. And regarding the other car, Connor’s analysis told him that it belonged to a woman called Rose Chapman, who Connor identified as the woman that had appeared in Kara’s memories when they broadcasted that message from CyberLife’s Tower.

“Connor!”

The named one focused on the entrance of the manor when hearing his name being called, and smiled when seeing Kara waving her hand at him. He approached with Hank and Dana, the last one hugging Kara as a greeting when she was close.

“We have just arrived and I thought that we were the last”, Kara explained, smiling softly, “but I was mistaken”

“My fault”, Hank said, helping Dana to remove her coat before handling it to Thomas, Carl’s new caretaker, “or better said: my dog’s fault. He wanted to come along and it has taken me a lot of food to convince him to stay”

Hank’s comment caused Kara to chuckle while Connor also removed the coat he was wearing. He could hear a lot of voices coming from inside the manor but before he could analyze anything else he caught AX400 looking at him with approving eyes.

“You look handsome”, Kara said, touching lightly Connor’s hair, “even if it’s obvious you’ve been messing with your hair”

Connor smiled with certain embarrassment, not very used yet to be complimented.

“You look good too”, he replied back, looking at Kara's [new clothes](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7L2FcqLnWMQ/TS3Zs9PdagI/AAAAAAAALWE/MpqzC2tVohw/s1600/5219616061_07394fda91_z.jpg), “you have made the most of Kamski’s wallet”

Kara chuckled while the group began to walk towards the doors that lead to the impressive living room. The place was full of deviants that were talking and laughing animatedly, some of them standing while others were sitting on the chairs and sofas situated around the place.

The first familiar face Connor identified was Luther, sitting on a chair with Alice on his lap and talking to a dark-skinned woman that Connor identified as Rose. The big android smiled at him when noticing him and Alice immediately began to gesture so that Dana approached her, thing that the girl android did while giggling.

Connor couldn’t help to gulp when seeing the scene. There was a topic he had delayed at its maximum, but that it was time to bring.

“Kara”, the AX400 looked at Connor with surprise when hearing his light sad tone, “Luther, you and Alice are planning to go to Canada, right?”

Kara’s expression softened, probably reading what Connor was thinking even if he hadn’t said anything yet.

“Yes, we _were_ planning to do so”

Connor looked at Kara with more opened eyes when hearing her emphasis in that word.

“Does that mean…”

Kara smiled sweetly and nodded.

“Yes, we aren’t going anymore. We took the decision of leaving when we were alone, when we thought that it was our only escape so that Alice had a good future. But thanks to the people of Jericho, and especially thanks to Dana and you, we have a new home now, a new family, so our reasons to stay are way stronger than our reasons to leave”

Connor gulped and hugged Kara with force, a little surprised by how happy he was to hear that good news, by how important Kara and the others had become to him.

“And besides…”, Kara whispered the next sentence in Connor’s ear, “…as RA9 I have the duty to look over Detroit”

Connor chuckled when hearing Kara’s joking tone. After some seconds they separated and Connor proceeded to bring out the second and main subject that had been worrying him lately.

“There’s something else. It’s about Dana”, Kara waited patiently for Connor to speak again, “would Luther and you be willing to take care of her?”

Kara blinked rapidly, looking really confused.

“Well, of course we would, but I don’t understand. I had assumed that you would be taking care of her”

Connor couldn’t reply because at that moment Hank appeared out of nowhere next to him with an irritated expression on his face, which indicated that he had heard the last part of the conversation.

“Yeah, Connor, what bullshit are you saying?”, the lieutenant crossed his arms, “because if you dare to say that you don’t want anything to do with that girl, you and I are going to re-play that scene in the bridge”

“No no no! Of course I want to take care of Dana”, Connor said hurriedly, a little taken aback for Hank’s threatening expression, “but I’m not even sure if that’s what she wants so-”

“For Christ’s sake”, Hank cursed with exasperation, before suddenly beginning to shout towards Dana, “hey, kiddo!”

Dana, who had been playing with Alice some clapping hand-games, turned towards Hank with a questioning expression on her face.

“Can you tell me who your dad is?”

Dana looked at Hank as if he was dumb before promptly signaling at Connor without hesitation, causing this one to feel a mini-lump forming in his throat.

“Thanks, kiddo”

Dana and Alice interchanged a look that clearly indicated they thought adults were weird before coming back to their game, while Hank turned to Connor with a triumphant expression.

“There you have it, son. I think it’s evident with whom she wants to be”

“But are you okay with both of us staying at your home?”, Connor insisted, “I mean, of course it would be until we find a proper place, but until that happens we will be bothering you”

“Young lady, stop me or I will punch this idiot”

“Please, do it. He deserves it”

Connor’s eyes opened wide when hearing the patient interchange of Hank and Kara, before the lieutenant talked again, this time with a grumpy tone that didn’t manage to mask its fondness.

“In case it hasn’t been clear: no, son, you won’t bother me. At least, not more than usual. But I hope you are not an obsessive of cleaning because otherwise our cohabitation will be hard”

Connor exhaled a chuckle, and when he talked he was unable to completely control the emotion in his voice.

“Don’t worry, lieutenant. I think I will be able to deal with that”

Hank snorted, but his eyes were a little brighter than usual when he palmed Connor’s shoulder, while Kara looked at them alternatively with a tender expression.

The fluffy moment didn’t last much however, because at that moment Connor heard a familiar feminine voice cursing behind him and when he turned it was in time to receive a smack on the back of his neck.

“Where are your manners, ex-Hunter?! Arriving here without saying hello, tsk”

“It was not in my knowledge that smacking someone was a way to greet them”

“And it’s not, Nines. It’s not”

“Yes, Chloe is right. And remember what we have talked about before: _never_ take North as a reference”

“Josh, are you willing to die tonight?”

“But babe, you have to admit that you aren’t the most indicated to talk about manners”

“…Okay, I’ve thought about it better: my stupid boyfriend is the one dying tonight”

While rubbing the back of his neck, Connor observed the dialogue-argument that was taking place with a smile on his face: [North](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a3/59/89/a35989a7f8444ccdb18ad53235f4aa60.jpg) was now pointing at Simon with an accusatory finger while the blonde android surely pretended to be more terrified than he actually was, Josh was looking at them shaking his head, Nines was observing the scene slightly confused and Chloe was clearly suppressing the urge to laugh.

“Oh, so you are finally here”

The ruckus that the Jericrew was beginning to cause was interrupted by a calm voice, and when seeing its owner Connor’s heart skipped a beat: first, because approaching him on his wheelchair was Carl Manfred, looking at him with an affable though also inquisitive expression; and second, because Markus was the one who was controlling the wheelchair, and when Connor’s eyes met the leader’s ones, a warning of ‘heat increase’ immediately appeared in his system.

Honestly Connor didn’t know how [a simple white, v-neck t-shirt and a pair of jeans](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/a9/cb/ae/a9cbaef08c01b310634918f55d846cf2--pretty-eyes-beautiful-eyes.jpg) could look so great on the leader. Although for the way Markus’ eyes wandered on him before beginning to shine in a pleasant familiar way, Connor deduced that Markus was probably thinking the same about him. He had to remember to thank Kara and Chloe for it.

“Well, definitely your interest for my son has just been more than confirmed, although not that it was necessary after seeing you tongue-kissing on the TV”

Connor and Markus blushed intensely when everyone laughed after hearing Carl’s mocking comment. Now Connor understood from where Markus got some of his teasing habits.

“Thank you, dad”, Markus said with a hint of mortified resignation.

“What?”, Carl said with fake innocence, “It’s your boyfriend’s fault for ogling at you in such an obvious way. And you weren’t being subtle at all either, son”

“Right?”, Hank suddenly intervened, “I have told the kid the same a couple of minutes ago. I’m Hank Anderson, by the way”, Hank added by offering Carl a hand that the old man shook with firmness.

“Carl Manfred. A pleasure”

While Hank and Carl embarrassed their respective adoptive son a little more, Connor and Markus interchanged another look, that this time didn’t hold any sexual tension on it but just shared resignation.

‘ _I knew they would get along well_ ’, Markus transmitted, causing Connor to be about to chuckle when hearing his patient tone.

‘ _Maybe you should consider to offer them a drink so that they focus on something else than torturing us_ ’

Connor had suggested it as a joke, but for the way Markus’ eyes illuminated he knew that the leader thought it was a great idea.

After Markus subtly suggested his father that it could be a good idea to open the bourbon the man had been storing for ‘a suitable occasion’, Carl and Hank approached one of the sofas while Thomas went to grab the alcohol with an expression that clearly said that he shouldn’t be doing that.

“Finally”, Markus said, approaching Connor to kiss him in a way that was lightly more intense than their other times, causing Connor to feel a pleasant heat to traverse by his system, “you look good”

Connor smiled, a new wave of warmth invading him with the way Markus said those words approvingly.

“You too”, such a simple interchange was enough for the previous tension to come back, so Connor decided to lower it a little, “sorry, I was unable to find the glasses”

Markus exhaled a laugh.

“You aren’t on disguise now so you didn’t need to wear them”, Markus took his hand, “come with me”

“Where?”, Connor said  rapidly, causing Markus to blink.

“I was planning to show you one of my paintings”

Connor blushed intensely, feeling like a complete idiot right then. Of course that they weren’t going to do _that_ yet: they hadn’t even been ten minutes in the party. How idiot was he?

“O-Oh, sure. Let’s go”

For the way Markus smirked, it was evident that the leader had guessed what had passed through Connor’s head, but he seemed to consider that Connor had had enough teasing already and decided to let it pass.

After Markus showed Connor the painting he had drawn before becoming a deviant, Connor was first assaulted by the former Tracis, that thanked him effusively for all his help, before being also intercepted by a woman that, initially, he didn’t recognize until Kamski joined her as her companion, and Connor got a little pale when realizing that it was Mrs. Lilton.

The situation was a little embarrassing for Connor because the woman mentioned how Connor ‘ _had impersonated Eli and how he had been very seductive on the phone_ ’. However, despite the lack of shame the woman seemed to have, she sounded sincere when she congratulated them for their victory, and also assured them that they could count on her with everything they needed.

“She seems nice”, Markus said when Kamski and Mrs. Lilton excused themselves to talk to Carl for a while, sitting with Connor in a couple of free chairs.

“Yes”, Connor agreed, “nicer than Kamski at least”

Markus chuckled, leaning an arm against the back of his chair.

“You don’t stand the man, do you?”

Connor shrugged with an apologetic smile on his face.

“I don’t like not understanding things. And I don’t understand him”

Markus chuckled again.

“Neither of us does. But even if I plan to keep an eye on him, I really think that he is in our side. At least, for now”

They remained in a comfortable silence after Markus talked, so Connor decided to observe his surroundings a little. He smiled when seeing Hank and Carl talking a little too cheerily (probably the bourbon was at fault);  the Jericrew was together as always, and for North’s expression it seemed that Simon was teasing her again while Josh tried to put peace between them; Kara was sitting next to Luther and Rose, the three of them laughing and talking; and the thing it surprised Connor the most and that made him smile widely was that Dana had made Nines sit on one of the sofas, and with Alice’s help she was teaching the RK900 a clapping-hand game while Chloe observed the scene with amusement.

“Seriously, is there something more lovely than that kid?”

Connor looked at Markus with a smile when the leader said that with an honest tone, looking at Dana almost drooling.

“I don’t think so”, he said, “even Hank adores her”

“Who wouldn’t?”, Markus changed position by crossing his legs and settling his hands on his lap, “so you both will be living with the lieutenant Anderson?”

Connor nodded.

“Yes, at least until I find a new place”, Connor looked at Markus, “and you? Will you live here again?”

Markus sighed and shrugged.

“I’m not sure yet. A part of me really wants to be with Carl again, but I think these weeks, and probably also months, are going to be really busy. So I was planning to be with the rest in the church. And since Mrs. Lilton was so willing to help us, maybe I contact her to see if she would agree to remodel the building so that we deviants can use it in the meantime”

Connor nodded, leaning back against the chair as well.

“So at the end everything went well between Carl and you. I’m happy for you”

Markus smiled warmly, settling a hand on Connor’s leg that Connor immediately grabbed, interlacing their fingers together.

“Yes. Also, Carl told me that Leo called him to apologize, and to tell him that he will enter a detoxification center to get clean”

“Oh, that’s good news”

Markus sounded a little nervous when he talked again.

“I guess that when Carl goes to visit him I will accompany him. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I would like to fix things with Leo too”

Connor pressed Markus’ hand lightly.

“If he has contacted Carl and is willing to change for good, I’m sure you both will end getting alone”

Markus smiled.

“I hope so”

Markus came back to observe his surroundings, and when a knowing smile appeared on his face Connor followed Markus’ eyes, which had stopped on Chloe talking to Nines about something that made the RK900 show a smile while blushing lightly.

“So you have noticed it too”, North suddenly stopped next to Connor and leant her elbow on his shoulder, while looking at Chloe and Nines with amusement, “it seems that she got tired of liking the ex-Hunter and decided to go for his improved version”

North’s purposely rude comment caused Markus to laugh and Connor to frown confused, until finally understanding what Markus and North were suggesting.

The rest of the Jericrew joined Markus and Connor as well, and after some calm minutes of relaxed chit-chat the lights of the room suddenly began to fade at the same time that a song that clearly [belonged to the ‘80s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M&) began to sound.

“Okay, youngsters”, Carl suddenly said over the general surprised murmur, “time to enjoy some music. And I want to see all of you dancing, come on!”

At first no one moved, everyone interchanging looks of hesitation. However, if there was something wonderful about children was that they didn’t mind what the others could think that much, so the moment the music began to sound Dana and Alice stepped in the middle of the living room and began to move with the rhythm.

That was the signal everyone seemed to be waiting to do the same, because the next one who joined the girls was Kara, followed by Luther, then by Chloe, and then in a mere minute all the deviants inside the living room were dancing, embarrassment completely forgotten. Or at least, _almost_ forgotten in Connor’s case.

“Come on, Con”, when the song [changed again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0Rz-uP4Mk), Connor was suddenly dragged by North to the middle of the room, “show us how the most superior android can dance”

“But Nines is a most advanced model than me! And besides, dancing is not in my primary skil-”

“Oh, shut up and just try not to step on me”

Connor half-glared at Markus when seeing the leader laughing without making any attempt to rescue him from North. At first it was hard for Connor to follow the rhythm _and_ North, but at least his quick learning ability came in handy because after the initial disastrous half-minute he could dance with the female deviant in a rather acceptable way, and ended enjoying it quite a lot.

He looked out of the corner of his eyes at other people dancing: Simon and Josh, Kara and Luther, the Tracis, Markus alternating between Dana and Alice, Hank was standing too while swinging a little his body with a drink in hand, and even Nines had eventually accepted to dance with a really happy Chloe.

At some point, ‘90 songs began to sound, and Connor made sure to record Hank dancing ‘[ _Barbie Girl_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35fWf1CWFQ)’ as his life depended on it. It was also one of the songs Connor had the most fun because Simon, Josh, Markus, Nines and him ended standing forming a line singing and dancing the Ken part while North, Chloe, Blue, Brona and Kara situated in front of them in another line, performing the Barbie role, before finally meeting to dance together in group when ‘[ _Living’ La Vida Loca_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRgb4SJ1uk)’ sounded.

As new songs were playing, Connor lost track of the people he had danced with, since everyone ended dancing with everyone. In fact, Connor was astonished when North and Hank ended dancing ‘[ _Let’s get loud_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu1tIIdLYKE)’ so well that a circle formed around them and people began to clap and shout with enthusiasm, being Simon the loudest.

However, what Connor was not going to forget was when ‘[ _Be my Lover_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ_Mi8j-P7A)’ began to sound and suddenly Markus grabbed his hand, reclaiming that dance for him and him alone.

At first the way they danced was rather goofy, each of them on his own way without any common coordination, but when the rap of the song began, Markus got closer to Connor to settle one of his hands on the back of his neck, the other settling on his hip. If the way Markus’ mismatched eyes glinted wasn’t a clear hint of what the leader wanted, the way Markus subtly began to grind his hips forward with the rhythm of the music, causing Connor’s system to heat up, was the final push Connor needed to lean forward and capture Markus’ mouth in a needy kiss.

Connor didn’t even heard the way North whistled while the others laughed. He didn’t even mind the fact that he was heatedly making out in the middle of Carl’s living room, because the way Markus’ tongue was dancing against his, the way Markus’ grip on him felt, were the only things that mattered.

So when they finally separated and when without spelling a word Markus began to lead him out of the living room and towards the stairs, Connor simply followed the leader while feeling his heart begin to hammer in his chest, realizing that the night had just started.

* * *

Connor didn’t even know which room they had just entered because his lips were still locked with Markus’ in a fierce, passionate kiss when the door closed behind them. In fact, Connor didn’t realize it was one of the multiple guest bedrooms of the manor until the back of his knees connected with the bed, but since the next second he was lying on it with Markus on his lap his reasoning stopped right there.

Connor gulped, his artificial heart going wild when, without averting his hungry gaze from him, Markus crossed his arms in front of his chest and removed the white t-shirt he was wearing, in a fluent movement that caused Connor’s brain to almost suffer a short-circuit for the sexiness it carried.

It was funny actually: he had seen Markus almost naked already, when they were captured in CyberLife tower, but at that moment he hadn’t paid the least attention to it, being obviously focused on escaping and surviving. But now that he could admire Markus’ body without hurry… _wow_. Definitely, Kamski knew what he was doing when designing him. And if Connor was feeling that hot when Markus was still half-dressed, he didn’t want to imagine what would happen when the leader was completely naked. Connor only hoped his thirium pump was able to stand it.

“Earth calling Connor”

The named one chuckled with nervousness when seeing the amused smirk Markus was dedicating him from above. Connor realized that he had been staring at Markus with his mouth half-opened while this one discarded the removed t-shirt on the floor.

“I’m sorry”, Connor suppressed the urge of shaking his head to focus and began to unbutton his shirt with slightly trembling fingers, “I’ve spaced out for a moment but I’m here agai-”

Connor’s words were interrupted when Markus grabbed his hands and pined them on the mattress on either side of his head before diving down to kiss him long and deep. Moaning into the kiss, Connor interlaced his fingers with Markus’ ones, enjoying the change to a more calmed pace because if things had kept escalating, the warnings that he was already receiving would have probably multiplied.

“Are you nervous?”

Markus’ soft question made Connor gulp before nodding a little shakily, and he felt relieved when detecting the way Markus’ heart was beating at that moment.

“That makes two of us”, Markus smiled before adopting that teasing tone Connor had grown so fond of, “and does that mean that you haven’t checked in your database the best way to achieve a satisfactory, mind-blowing first time? What a disappointment, Connor”

Connor rolled his eyes with patience while Markus chuckled softly, amused for his expression.

“No, I haven’t”, Connor admitted, unable to prevent some nervousness from slipping in his tone, “I thought that it would be better to wait and experience this when the moment came rather than having a too extensive knowledge, so I’m afraid I just know the basics about how _this_ works”, Connor gestured between Markus and him eloquently, “so bear in mind that there are really high possibilities that this ends being a disaster”

It was Markus’ turn to roll his eyes.

“Yes, I agree: it will be a disaster _but_ just if you keep saying nonsense instead of letting me keep kissing you”

Connor blinked surprised, not having expected Markus’ comment.

“So…aren’t you worried?”

Markus looked at Connor with patience before exhaling a soft sigh.

“Connor, do you have the least idea about how much I've been wanting this?”

When Connor was nervous he tended to be as literal as he used to be before waking up, and this was one of those times.

“I don’t know, but I dare to assume that as much as I have”

Markus blushed lightly when hearing Connor’s sincere, natural reply before smiling tenderly.

“Well, then you will understand that the only thing that matters for me is to be doing _this…_ ”, Markus purposely imitated Connor’s previous gesture, causing the last one to show a small smile, “…with you. So if this ends being a disaster (although I really doubt it), don’t worry: because I don’t mind _at all_ to practice until you become as skilled in sex as you are in everything else”

Connor chuckled again but this time with relief, and from then on he decided that, for once, it would be probably wise stop over-thinking everything as he usually did and ‘go with the flow’ as humans liked to say.

For starters, Connor stopped trying to guess the most suitable pace to follow, because he soon learnt that both Markus and him were improvising everything while letting his instincts be in command. For example, initially Connor thought that the first step to sleep together was to completely undress themselves, but he discovered he was wrong, since he had barely finished unbuttoning his shirt and was about to remove it when Markus prevented him from doing so, beginning to deposit kisses down his exposed chest with the clear intention to go to his nipples.

“Umh…Markus?”, Connor asked with a confused frown, “what are you planning to d-”

Connor gasped in surprise when Markus swirled his tongue around that apparently useless little bud and his body suffered a shiver.

“It seems that the ears aren’t the only erogenous zone that was installed in the RK models”, Markus said with an amused tone before proceeding to tease Connor’s chest again.

It was on the tip of Connor’s tongue to comment that the exact function of the nipples escaped to his knowledge, but somehow he had the suspicions that Markus would laugh at him if he did that, or that he would simply answer with a simple:

‘ _Who cares now? It feels good, doesn’t it?_ ’

Connor blushed when Markus began to laugh against his chest, realizing too late that he had transmitted that (to Markus only, he hoped) unconsciously.

“Not a word”, Connor said with a warning tone, that just caused Markus to make a gesture as if he was closing his own mouth with such a mocking expression that Connor was the one in being about to laugh.

However, his time for ‘revenge’ was close, because after his shirt was finally removed Connor decided that it was the turn of Markus’ pants.

“Markus, don’t you think these trousers are a little too tight for you?”

The leader snorted, raising his hips from the bed where he was now lying so that Connor could remove them more easily.

“Blame North for that. She made me bought them by saying that they highlighted my attributes”

Connor huffed when finally the piece of clothing passed Markus’ thighs, making both of them exhale respective satisfied sighs.

“You look good on anything, so next time buy more comfortable trousers”, Connor looked at Markus with confusion when this one chuckled, “what?”

“Nothing”, Markus shrugged mockingly, “just that you have really improved in the compliment department”

Connor exhaled a soft snort.

“I don’t think it was very difficult”, Connor was about to proceed to remove Markus’ underwear but stopped, realizing suddenly something, “by the way, how are we doing this?”

Markus looked at him a little lost so Connor proceeded to explain himself better.

“I mean, who is going to be in charge of carrying out the penetration?”

Markus blinked once, slowly.

“Connor, please, don’t be so romantic or you’ll make me cry”

“Alright, how the hell did you want me to express it then?”, Connor exhaled with certain  exasperation, before snapping a hand against his mouth when realizing it was the first time he swore.

“It’s okay, I won’t tell Hank that you curse as much as him”, Connor half-closed his eyes at Markus but when this one incorporated to deposit a kiss on his cheek he immediately leaned into it, “I’m fine with any role, so you can choose”

“Oh, really? I thought that you would prefer to lead”

Connor made sure to keep an imperturbable expression when Markus threw at him a ‘ _Seriously_?’ look.

“I will be good and I won’t tell anyone about this horrible pun”

Connor chuckled, kissing Markus briefly before surprising the leader by reaching for the pocket of the trousers he was still wearing, extracting a familiar coin from it.

“I’m fine with either option too, so choose”

They made their choice and Connor flipped the coin, that fell onto the mattress between them. Connor gulped when seeing the result and looked at Markus, who grabbed the back of his neck to lean his forehead against him.

“You’ll do it fine”

Markus’ unwavering confidence in him pushed away once again the nervousness had begun to settle in his system, and just a long, languid kiss was enough for Connor to enter in the mood again, beginning to lower Markus’ underwear with renewed determination.

It was Markus’ turn to tense when Connor lowered his face until it was at the same level of the leader’s already half-hard member. Connor was pretty sure that there had to exist a command to get completely erected without needing to retort to how humans had to do it. He wasn’t even sure if performing a fellatio was going to be pleasurable for Markus or if, on the contrary, the RKs didn’t feel anything from it, but Connor reminded himself again that he had decided not to over-think things, so without wasting more time he decided to simply go for it, enclosing his lips around Markus’ tip to give an experimental lick at it.

Immediately, all his doubts about Markus not feeling anything for such an action vanished when the leader let out a contented hum and one of his hands settled on Connor’s head, the other grabbing the sheets under them.

Encouraged by Markus’ reaction, Connor accommodated more of Markus’ member in his mouth and began to bob his head up and down, making sure to use his tongue around it, which, once again, proved to be unexpectedly handy to help him discover the zones where he had to apply more pressure, or suck, or go faster, and that made Markus’ grip on his hair increase.

“Is it good then?”, Connor asked after some moments, releasing momentarily Markus’ member.

“No, not good: it’s _great_ ”, Markus exhaled with a little ragged tone, and it was then when Connor realized how the deviant leader looked: cheeks showing a light blue color and his eyes little dazed from the stimulation. Connor felt his own member react with that sight, “but maybe we should stop because I’m beginning to receive overstimulation warnings”, Markus pointed at Connor’s crotch with his eyes, “do you want to try?”

Connor was tempted to accept. After all, seeing how Markus had enjoyed it he was curious to know how it felt, but he eventually shook his head.

“I prefer to keep the warnings to a minimum”

Markus nodded with a smile.

“Next time then”, the leader hooked a finger on one of the pockets of Connor’s trousers and pulled a little teasingly, “and now I think these should be off already”

Connor followed the subtle command of getting fully naked by stepping momentarily from the bed, and when he climbed back on it Connor’s lower stomach made a flip-flop when finding Markus with his legs opened and his hand between them, reaching down.

Markus caught Connor’s half-surprised, half-aroused expression and smirked towards him.

“Come here”, he whispered, reaching with his free hand towards Connor and encouraging him to settle between his legs.

“What do I have to do?”

“Nothing for now”, Markus settled his hand on the back of Connor’s head and forced him to lower his head to share a deep kiss while his hand kept working on himself, “actually I don’t think it is necessary to do this, but better safe than sorry”

During the next minutes Connor made sure to distract Markus from the task he was performing as much as he could, making the most of his extra-skilled tongue to find weak spots on Markus’ neck, causing the leader to groan when this happened.

“Connor”, Markus groaned softly when Connor decided to bite a sensitive spot in his neck at that precise moment, “I think we can do it now”

Connor forced his system to keep all the calm he could when hearing Markus’ words. He nodded with more confidence than he actually felt and placed his hands on either side of Markus’ body, aligning his member with Markus’ now stretched entrance.

“Are you ready?”

Connor’s question made Markus smile and nod.

“Yes”, Markus placed his hands on Connor’s hips, “go for it”

Once again, Markus’ confident tone helped his LED come back to a blinking blue color. However, when he began to slowly slide inside Markus’ pliant body, the light came back to bright yellow because of the torrent of information invading his system at once.

Connor had to stop when he was just midway inside: first, because Markus felt so warm and tight and way better than he had expected; and second and foremost, because one of Markus’ hands had flied to grab his forearm with force while a frown passed to adorn the leader’s expression.

“Does it hurt?”, Connor asked, blaming himself for feeling so good when Markus seemed to be in pain.

“I don’t know”, Markus exhaled a strained laugh, “I’m receiving warnings because my body is detecting an ‘unidentified object’ in my system and I don’t know how to tell it that it’s simply your dick”

Connor couldn’t help to laugh when hearing Markus’ comment, which made him move involuntarily and caused Markus to gasp for the sudden movement.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, Connor hurriedly said, but Markus shook his head.

“My fault for making a joke at a bad time”, he raised his head from the pillow to kiss Connor softly, “keep going. I will get used to this soon”

Connor looked hesitant at first but when Markus nodded with confidence he complied until being settled completely inside the deviant leader.

During the following minute he didn’t move at all. He just stood inside Markus, interchanging kisses and sweet-nothings until Markus nodded again so that he began to move.

Connor did it all the slowly he could, pushing out a little before pushing in again, but gradually Markus’ frown disappeared, his hand passed to grab Connor’s hips again, and eventually Markus began to move back against Connor, soft groans beginning to escape from his mouth.

“Connor”, Markus breathed while Connor kept rocking into him in a steady, calm pace, “I’m okay already, so you can go harder”

“Are you sure?”, Connor insisted, stilling his movements, and didn’t see it coming when Markus suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and rolled him over to end on the top of him, Connor still sheathed inside.

“Yes, I am”

Connor felt his artificial heart go crazy when Markus practically purred those words, mismatched eyes shining playfully while burying in his brown ones, and all the doubts Connor could still harbor of Markus still being in pain vanished when the deviant leader began to move over him.

Because the way Markus was riding him right now had _nothing_ to do with the delicacy Connor had used before, out of fear of damaging the leader. Connor was barely able to prevent his half-lidded eyes from closing completely to surrender to the pleasure that was traversing by each wire of his system, but he forced himself to keep them half-opened in order to record the sight over him in his memory forever.

He didn’t want to miss the way Markus looked right now: bicolor eyes also threatening to close on his own, toned chest moving up and down even if he actually didn’t need air, worked abs tensing every time that Markus slammed down and took him whole, and the best thing for Connor: Markus’ mouth half-opened letting out occasional groans and sometimes fragments of his name.

Gripping with force Markus’ thighs Connor tried to keep the rhythm by meeting up Markus’ movements but he found himself unable to do so. His mind was overflowing right now with all the information his system was receiving, his thoughts dissolving in a mess of sensations that he was unable to process at the same time: love, pleasure, arousal… all of them so powerful that were making him unable to react properly.

Probably noticing his lightly overwhelmed state, Markus stopped his rides momentarily and placed his hands on either side of Connor’s head, leaning down to deposit a kiss on his cheek.

“Hey, you okay?”

Connor smiled reassuringly and tilted his head to the side to capture Markus’ next kiss, directed to his cheek again.

“Yes”, Connor’s hands traveled up from Markus’ thighs to his hips to have a better grip, “just not used to feel so good”

His sincere reply made Markus’ concerned expression disappear completely, a raspy chuckle escaping from the leader’s mouth before a familiar teasing expression appeared on his face.

“Oh, really?”, Connor groaned softly when Markus began to slowly lick the shell of his ear, “does that mean that the most advanced RK800 is unable to keep the rhythm of a mere RK200?”

This time, Connor groaned louder when Markus resumed his movements without warning this time back and forth, making his grip on the leader’s hips turn almost deathly.

He should have known that if Markus was teasing in their everyday life, he obviously was going to be it in bed too, and he was perfectly aware that Markus’ objective was to stir him up, to make him react, and that he would be playing his game if he did it. But Connor didn’t mind, because he _wanted_ to fall into that game, and for that reason he decided to answer to Markus’ provocation at its fullest.

Without wasting more time, Connor incorporated into a sitting position but he didn’t stop there: he hooked an arm around Markus’ waist and with a fluent movement he rolled them to the side so that Markus’ back was against the bed again.

For the way Markus’ pupils dilated, and for the way he held his breath while one of his hand passed to grab the pillow next to his head, Connor realized that Markus had been anticipating this moment, that he had been waiting for Connor to go all out.

So Connor decided then that the wait was over, and with the only warning of his until then calm smile turning into his first smirk, Connor, _finally_ , let himself go, deciding to ignore completely for once the warnings that had begun to invade his system (higher stress level, accelerated heart-beat, increment of heating), and just to focus on what his body and mind were asking, on Markus, on _them_.

And oh yes, Connor was glad he did: because the way Markus’ body arched against him when Connor increased the strength and speed of his thrusts; the way Markus’ right hand clutched the pillow and how his left found his way to Connor’s shoulder to grab him with force, needing to hold onto something; the way Markus began to groan his name like a prayer, while bucking his hips back encouraging him to keep going… _all that_ was a sight Connor hoped to witness once again. Or better said, _a lot of times_.

“Ngh…! _Connor_!”

At some point, Markus tangled his fingers on the back of Connor’s neck and gripped his hair, his groans becoming suddenly more frequent and intense as his legs wrapped around Connor’s lower back, pressing his body closer.

“Oh damn…”, Markus exhaled a surprised laugh, “I don’t know what you are touching but please keep doing _that_ ”

“It’s  probably the #6944 component”, despite his raspy voice, Connor managed to adopt his usual academic tone while still thrusting into Markus, making sure not to change the angle, “it was designed to work similarly to the human’s prostrate, but I was unsure of its location so I’m glad to have found i-”

“Connor, do you really think this is the moment for an explanation?”

Exhaling a chuckle Connor dove down to capture Markus’ teasing smile in a new long kiss, reaching down with one hand to begin to pump Markus’ length in time with the rock of his hips. Markus moaned with the new stimulation, releasing the pillow to surround Connor’s freckled back instead, his nails digging from time to time in his pale skin when Connor gave a particularly good thrust.

Connor’s warnings began to appear with more frequency, indicating him that he was getting close to exhaustion, and even if he didn’t want it to stop, didn’t want to put an end to the feeling of Markus’ body against him, at some point he was unable to ignore the messages anymore.  

“Markus”, Connor exhaled when he couldn’t prevent his LED from beginning to blink between yellow and red anymore, his thrusts becoming more erratic, “Markus, I-I think I am…”

The warm smile full of love Markus dedicated him caused Connor’s heart to stop for a moment, not used yet to the leader showing that kind of expressions for him.

“Me too”, Markus said simply, placing a hand on the mattress with his palm facing upwards.

Connor accepted the silent invitation and interlaced his fingers with Markus’, their skins receding slowly, and Connor couldn’t help to close his eyes tightly, mouth slightly agape, when Markus’ own powerful sensations passed to invade his system, making them indistinguishable from his own.

The intense sharing of information seemed to be the point of no return for both of them, because mere seconds of interchange were all Connor needed to exhale a broken gasp, all his body suffering a powerful shiver before practically collapsing on the top of Markus as warnings danced in front of his closed eyes, and Connor couldn’t help to smile slightly in bliss, considering ironic that his system was claiming to be close to ‘danger’ when he was feeling so great.

“So…”, Connor knew that Markus’ comment was going to be joking even if the leader had just said that monosyllabic word, “…was it as disastrous as you thought it’d be?”

Connor laughed tiredly, forcing himself to incorporate by leaning his elbows on either side of Markus’ head to meet the leader’s teasing eyes.

“No, not at all. It was way better than I had anticipated”

Markus smiled fondly, removing some rebel bangs from Connor’s forehead while setting his other hand on the small of Connor’s back.

“Yes, it was. Although are you sure that the sex was satisfactory? Because according to the last statistics the way to achieve an optimal orgasm is by making love for, at least, 8 minutes and I think we have just lasted 7 so…”

“First: I’m certain that you are making all that up right now. And second, you’re never going to stop reminding my times as a statistic obsessed, aren’t you?”

Markus began to laugh when hearing Connor’s resigned tone and incorporated briefly to deposit a slow, tender kiss on his mouth.

“No, never. After all, it was then when I began to be interested in you”

Connor’s eyes snap opened.

“Really?”

“Yes. Your compliment was awful but I thought that your way of trying to fix it was actually cute”

“Well, then it wasn’t that awful if you liked it”

Markus snorted softly, but he was smiling while guiding Connor to be the one in lying on the bed facing up, crawling on the top of him once again.

“Did someone ever tell you that you are a smartass?”

Connor chuckled.

“Yes: Hank, a lot of times. But the same as you, deep inside he seemed to like it quite a lot”

The way Markus hummed went straight to Connor’s lower half.

“Well, I doubt that he loves it more than me”, Connor’s mouth half-parted on its own when Markus leaned down until their lips were barely brushing, “because I think that your way of answering back is damn hot”

Connor gladly accepted Markus’ next hard kiss, enclosing his arms around Markus’ shoulders while opening his legs so that the leader could initiate a languid grinding that had them groaning again in no time, craving for more.

“Are you up for another round?”, Markus almost purred against Connor’s ear, accompanying his words with another grind of his hips that caused Connor to moan while tilting his head back, which caused Markus to divert his mouth to Connor’s tempting pale neck to leave a new mark. Connor was still receiving warnings from the first round but at that moment he couldn’t care less about them.

“Yes, but this time I want you to _lead_ ”

Markus exhaled a soft chuckle before leaning down once again to kiss him harshly. Connor’s lower stomach tensed a little in anticipation when one of Markus’ hands traveled down, but before the leader could even begin with the process of preparing him the door of the room snapped opened and Simon and North stomped inside the room, lips locked in a furious make out session.

“O-Oh, shit”, Simon cursed breathlessly when observing the stunned glances that Connor and Markus were throwing at them, from the bed where they were lying _completely naked_.  

“Ups, wrong room, sorry. Have fun!”, North didn’t look as embarrassed as the PL600, and in fact she simply waved her hand at the interrupted pair while dragging an apologetic smiling Simon behind her.

When the door closed again, Connor and Markus interchanged a glance by managing to keep an imperturbable expression, but when they heard Simon saying a sincere ‘ _Damn, our leader surely has a nice ass_ ’ coming from outside, they were unable to hold the laughter inside any more.  

“And there it goes the mood”

Connor laughed even more as Markus exhaled a resigned sigh while half-covering them with the blankets, before lying on his left to face Connor.

“Maybe the interruption has not been that bad”, Connor said, placing a hand over the arm that Markus had settled over his waist, “because another round would have probably made me shut off”

“Oh, so sleeping with me is as exhausting as going all out in battle. I guess I’ll take it as a compliment”

Connor chuckled again and still lying facing up he turned his head to his right to look at Markus, and was surprised when a sudden lump formed in his throat.

“Hey”, Markus said with light concern when Connor gulped with difficulty, “is something wrong?”

Connor smiled and shook his head.

“No, nothing”, Connor gulped again, but his tone sounded a little trembling nevertheless, “just that I’m really happy that we made it. That we can be like this”

Markus smiled tenderly at Connor when this one’s voice failed a little at the end, and got even closer to him to deposit a soft kiss on Connor’s naked shoulder.

“Me too”

They remained embraced in a comfortable silence until a loud clamor was heard from the living room.

“I bet that Hank has motivated with another song”

Connor’s comment made Markus chuckle.

“I’m glad everyone is having so much fun. At the end my father had a good idea by proposing this party”

“Yes, I think so too”

After another brief silence, Markus looked at Connor with curiosity.

“And what are you planning to do now? Will you work again with the Police?”

Connor shrugged.

“Well, if I haven’t been fired for shooting Gavin and fighting against Perkins and his men, yes, that was my intention”   

Markus chuckled when hearing Connor’s resigned tone.

“I’m sure Hank will help you in case you have some kind of trouble. And if that doesn’t work out, I can always hire you as my personal bodyguard”

Connor snorted softly.

“Thanks Markus, but no: I don’t like to mix work with pleasure”

“Well, theoretically I shouldn’t be engaged in a romantic relationship either, since there is a 63.4% of possibilities of becoming a bad leader in the long term, but here I am with you”

Connor smiled back, surprised that Markus remembered that.

“A little roundabout way to tell me that you love me”

Markus chuckled.

“You are right”, Markus moved the hand that was on Connor’s waist to touch his cheek, his eyes showing suddenly such seriousness that Connor found himself holding his breath, “I love you”

It wasn’t the first time that Markus declared his love to him, but nevertheless Connor felt his heart skip a little beat because even if all the times Markus had said it had sounded sincere, at that moment, with the two of them being in such a vulnerable state and in such an intimate mood, it felt even more real.

“Better?”, Markus asked, knowing already the answer by looking at Connor’s expression.

“Yes”, Connor smiled, settling his hand against the one Markus still had on his cheek, “I love you too, Markus. And just for the record, I remind you that those statistics were outdated so you don’t have to be afraid of being a bad leader from now on”

“Oh, thank goodness. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight otherwise”

Connor laughed when hearing Markus’ ironic answer before the leader leaned forward to kiss him for hundredth time that night, which inevitably lead to another kiss, and to another one, and that probably would have leaded to another round if a new clamor hadn’t sounded again.

“Okay, I’m really curious about what the hell is happening down there”

“Me too”, Connor agreed, “do you want to check it out?”

Markus smiled and nodded, so they stepped out of the bed and got dressed again. Connor looked at himself in the mirror of the room but soon gave up in trying to fix his hair, which betrayed what Markus and him had been doing, together with the marks adorning their respective necks. Although considering their not-subtle-at-all leave, Connor realized that no matter how presentable they could look: _everyone_ was probably aware of what had happened during their absence.

“Well, ready for being laughed at by everyone?”

Markus’ cheery tone while saying that made Connor chuckle.

“Always”

Markus dedicated him one of those warm smiles Connor had become addicted to and after kissing him softly both deviants abandoned the room.

While climbing down the stairs holding Markus’ hand, Connor’s mind couldn’t help to wander a little, thinking that when that night was over a new fight would begin, because even if they had achieved a lot by managing to free the androids, they still had a lot to do to ensure their equality, and that they actually had the same rights than humans.

However, there was something Connor had learnt while becoming a deviant, and it was that the only requirement to achieve great things together was to have people, being humans or androids, willing to help and support them.

And they had them:

They had Hank, Carl and Rose, humans who had been able to see the androids as more than mere machines from the start, who had been able to risk themselves for them, to defend them, to love them while ignoring their differences.

They had Kamski, who as little trustworthy as the man seemed to be, and even if his ultimate goal could be simply to satisfy his own selfish curiosity, he had helped them, and refused to follow the rules of a company that simply wanted to earn quick profit.

They had the whole Jericrew: Josh, who would always be there suggesting the most pacifistic route; North, who wouldn’t hesitate in kicking or punching the ones who dared to hurt her loved ones, neither to kick or punch her loved ones if they deserved it; Simon, who tended to be the voice of the reason and was the master of lowering the stress with his usually inopportune jokes.

They had Chloe, who even with a metallic pipe in hand never lost her sweetness; Nines, whose strength allowed him to break the most advanced programming in the deviants’ behalf; Luther, the one with a heart as big as himself.

They had Kara: the one who had resulted to be indispensable for the revolution's success, the one who carried an importance just a few knew but who decided to keep being that modest caretaker android who woke up when a girl most needed her.

They had Alice and Dana, who always managed to put a smile on their faces, to give them hope, to remind them for which they were fighting.

And finally, but not least, they had each other, he had Markus by his side, so Connor knew that it didn’t matter how many dangerous missions were still waiting ahead of them: they would make it.

Because they were together, they had an awesome big family, and as long as that didn’t change, there would always exist a chance for the future to shine bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter, _"A Dangerous Mission"_ has come to an end ;) I hope that the ending (and the promised bonding time between Markus and Connor hehehe) has been worth it  <3 <3
> 
> THANK YOU very much for all your support <3 <3 When I began writing this story I wouldn't have ever imagined it was going to be so well received, and I just hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it :) Lots of love <3 <3 ^^


	21. Extra: Four words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this fic was theoretically finished _but_ this idea hasn't stopped bugging me for a couple of days and I had to let it out :) 
> 
> Beware of the tags because a couple of them have been added. Hope you like it <3

Connor didn’t realize that Dana had entered the living room until feeling her small hand settling on his shoulder from behind the sofa where he was sitting, reviewing in the tablet the information of the last case Hank and him were working on even if it was Saturday. In fact, the lieutenant was right now on the Police Station also investigating. There was no doubt that Connor had been a good influence on Hank, because some time ago it would have been unthinkable that the lieutenant Hank Anderson would sacrifice a weekend to get some work done.

With a little smile, Connor turned his body a little to the side to look at Dana. He remembered how he used to be in alert when hearing sudden steps, not used to live with Dana and Hank in the same home at first. However a month had passed since then, and except that one time that Connor mistook Hank by a robber (because the lieutenant had to supposedly be at work and not at home) and jumped on him in the living room causing the lieutenant to complain about it for a week, Connor had got pretty used to be assaulted from time to time, specially by Dana and, obviously, Markus.

However, the smile that was adorning Connor’s face was replaced by a concerned expression when seeing Dana looking at him with apprehension, her LED blinking rhythmically in yellow.

“What’s the matter, Dana?”

Connor grabbed the hand that the girl had placed on his shoulder and made her circle the sofa so that she ended in front of him. While waiting patiently, Connor began to made soothing circles on Dana’s hand with his thumb to reassure her. He didn’t ask further because he knew Dana well enough already to know that sometimes she needed to take her time to express what she wanted.

After half-a-minute, Dana took a deep breath and signaled with the hand that wasn’t grabbing Connor’s one to the door.

“Do you want to go somewhere?”, Dana nodded, “where?”

Connor’s LED blinked rapidly twice in blue when Dana transmitted the location to him, turning immediately on a bright yellow when recognizing the place. Connor’s brown eyes fixed on Dana’s also dark ones, unable to mask his worry.

“There?”, Dana nodded again, “but why?”

Dana averted her eyes for a moment, but when she looked at him again with resolve Connor realized he didn’t need an answer.

Connor sighed. A part of him was tempted to use his reasoning skills to try to stop Dana, but he knew he was just being overprotective, that he was trying to prevent that she suffered again at any cost, and that probably in this case he had to let it happen. He didn’t like the idea one bit, but it seemed that it was something Dana wanted to do, _needed_ to do, and the only help he could provide in this situation was to be there, with and for her.

“Alright, go get dressed”

Dana smiled and kissed him briefly on the cheek before practically running towards Cole’s former room, that now it was hers. Connor remained sitting on the sofa, hesitating, but eventually extracted his mobile from his pocket. Without approaching it to his ear he wirelessly marked the number it was stored as favorite. Just a couple of tones were heard before Markus’ voice sounded in his head.

“ _What a nice surprise. I wasn’t expecting to have news about the Detective Anderson so early in the morning_ ”

Connor chuckled when hearing the appellative and Markus’ familiar teasing tone, his stress lowering a little.

“I am also surprised that the Deviant Leader is already awake, considering the extenuating reunion he assisted yesterday”

Markus snorted at the other side of the line.

“ _Have I ever commented that meetings should be carried out standing instead of sitting? We would have probably saved two damn hours of beating around the bush_ ”

“Yes, you have told me, several times indeed. But well, at least you convinced them to accept your terms”

“ _Thankfully. Although I think they just did that because North really looked about to murder someone in case they refused_ ”, Connor laughed at the comment before Markus continued, “ _so what’s up? Because I doubt you call me just to hear my lovely voice_ ”

Connor smiled and shook his head, before realizing Markus couldn’t see the movement.

“I’m afraid I don’t”, he made a brief pause before speaking again, “Dana has asked me to go here”

Markus’ reaction when receiving the location indicated Connor that the deviant leader had recognized the place.

“What?”, by Markus’ tone it was evident that the deviant leader had suddenly got tense, “ _but that’s the place where-_ ”

“I know. But she wants to go. And that’s the reason of my call. I…”, Connor gulped softly, “…I think it’s better if you are present”

Connor didn’t elaborate more but Markus’ next comment indicated him that the deviant leader perfectly knew what was going through Connor’s head.

“ _Okay. I will be there in 20 minutes_ ”

Connor exhaled a relieved sigh and nodded.

“Thank you, Markus”

When Markus grunted in annoyance Connor believed to know what the deviant leader was going to say next, since Markus often pointed out that Connor shouldn’t thank him for things he gladly did.

However, this time Connor was mistaken.

“ _Hey, you may have the whole custody of Dana but I also care about her, you know?_ ”

“Custo- we aren’t even married, so why are you talking as if we were _divorced_? It has not sense at all, and besides it’s inaccurate because you can visit Dana whenever you want to and-”

When Markus began to laugh, Connor realized that his reaction had been exactly the one Markus had been waiting, so this time he didn’t feel bad when insulting Markus in a way that Hank would have surely approved.

* * *

It took Connor and Dana half-an-hour to reach the old-looking building that was their destination. Hank had used the car to go to work so they took a public bus to arrive there, since it was cheaper than taking a taxi. The payment to androids was something Markus and the rest were still working on, so Connor preferred to avoid wasting Hank’s money as much as possible, even if the man would probably yell at him if Connor told him that. 

The bus stop was some meters away from their destination, so when they stepped out the transport Connor pinpointed Markus almost immediately, leaning his back against the building’s walls with his hands tucked in his pockets.

Markus smiled when Connor and Dana approached and accepted the girl’s effusive hug, kissing the top of Dana’s head before approaching to Connor to kiss him as a greeting.

“Sorry for the wait”

Markus simply shook his head when hearing the unnecessary apology.

“It’s okay, you are just 7 minutes and 16 seconds late”

Connor knew that Markus was being joking to lower the unavoidable tension that was surrounding them, and he was grateful for it because it helped, even if it was just a little. During the bus trip Connor had clearly detected the way Dana’s LED had begun to blink faster and faster as the time passed until reaching yellow, but the only thing he could do was to hold Dana’s hand during it, not daring to encourage the girl in any other way because of the risk of making her more nervous.

“Alright, let’s go”, Connor said, pretending to be calmer than he actually felt while finally entering, followed by Dana and Markus.

Unlike the previous time they visited that place there wasn’t any janitor watching the entrance, so they simply climbed up the creaking wooden stairs until reaching the sixth floor.

The whole block of apartments looked even more abandoned than the first time Connor and Markus were there. No sound was heard coming from any of the houses and a tiny part of Connor secretly hoped that the sixth apartment situated at the end of the corridor was empty too.

When they were in front of the door, Connor looked at Dana, his stress levels raising when realizing that her LED was now light red, and beginning to blink rapidly.

“Hey”, Markus’ caretaker abilities showed in the way the deviant leader crouched on the floor in front of Dana, holding her face between his hands, “we are here, okay? So if at any moment you want to leave, just say it”

Relief bathed Dana’s expression and the girl nodded with a brave smile. Markus offered the girl a warm smile and kissed her forehead before standing up to be again at Connor’s level. This one realized then that despite the soft tone Markus had used, there was a turmoil inside the deviant leader probably as big as the one Connor felt inside, that the same as him Markus was pretending to be calm for the sake of Dana, when deep inside he liked to be there as little as Connor did.

“Are you ready?”, Connor asked softly at Dana, but instead of answering she simply gulped again, approached the door with hesitant steps and knocked at the door, with a firmness that contrasted with the way her body was shaking lightly.

Some seconds passed but they didn’t obtain any answer, so Dana knocked again. When silence was the only thing they obtained, Connor tentatively tried to open the door, being surprised when finding it open.

However, when the interior of the room was revealed Connor understood the motive of the lack of security: the apartment looked as deplorable as the previous time they were there, but now there wasn’t a single piece of furniture on it, nothing worthy of being stolen. The only things present in the apartment were huge quantities of rubbish, that were causing a nauseating smell to invade the place, and a dirty, ripped blanket surrounded by several used syringes and a red dust that Connor didn’t need to scan to know it was red ice.

“Hey! What ya doing in my house?”

Connor understood the meaning of the expression ‘blood boiling’ when hearing that sickly familiar voice coming from the other room that, he deduced, it was the bathroom.

Dana’s previous owner was standing there, dressed in worn-out sport pants and a stained, half-opened grey shirt. He looked even thinner, his arms were covered in exactly 38 red, small spots caused for the injection of drugs, and the bags under his bloodshot eyes together with his reddened nose indicated that he had probably drugged himself just now again.

“I remember you”, the man signaled with a trembling hand towards Connor’s direction, “you’re the officer that took my android. Ya promised ya'd send a new one but I never received anot-”

The man suddenly shut up, and Connor’s own LED blinked in yellow when realizing that Dana had got out from behind him, revealing herself to the man. Connor was about to step in front of Dana again when he received a transmission.

‘ _Wait_ ’, it was Markus, communicating just a couple of steps behind him, ‘ _let her_ ’

Connor gritted his teeth, every wire of his body debating between listening to Markus and grabbing Dana to finally leave that stinky room. But eventually, he forced himself to stay put while not diverting his attention from the man at any moment, ready to act in case it was necessary.

Dana began to slowly walk towards the man, who looked at her with confusion. After a couple of steps, Dana deactivated her hair and skin, and at that moment recognition appeared on the man’s emaciated face.

“Dana?”, Connor’s hands turned into fists on either side of his body when the man said Dana’s name aloud , “is that you?”

Connor had to make a titanic effort not to move when Dana kept walking towards the man. He felt Markus approaching until being at his same level, the leaders’ tension as powerful as his own.

“But what ‘re you wearing? Why ‘re you dressed like that?”, the man’s confused expression suddenly changed and a disturbing smile appeared on his face while he extended a dirty hand towards Dana, “come on, baby, ya know the rules: toys ain’t need clothes so get undr-”

A slapping sound invaded the room, and it took Connor a moment to notice that Dana had hit the man’s hand away with all her force.

The man stood there, immobile and blinking, looking even more confused than before.

But then something else happened, something that didn’t just leave the man speechless but also Connor and Markus.

 

“I am alive”

 

Connor gulped, his artificial heart beginning to beat crazily inside his chest.

Dana had talked.

Her voice had sounded really low and a little weak, probably because of the lack of use of her voice module, but the fierceness Dana was showing while spelling those words, each one of them exuding an angry determination, and the way her brown eyes were fixed challengely on her former owner, her former _abuser_ , without any fear or hesitation, would be the things Connor, and Markus, and surely that man, would always remember, and would never forget.

After saying that Dana remained silent again while slowly activating her skin and hair, but she didn’t need to add anything else to make herself understood. Because she had poured all her feelings in that sentence: fear and nervousness, for being again in the place that was her hell for a whole year, but also relief, for being now completely free after having faced her demons. Demons that had prevented her from showing her skin for such a long time, and also probably from speaking again since that only ‘Thank you’ that she whispered to Connor when she was rescued.

Connor observed with a lump on his throat how Dana turned her back to the man once again with pride, looking even taller and stronger than before, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her still too young shoulders.

She walked towards Connor and Markus after that, and when she offered them a little trembling smile they both immediately hugged her at the same time, her arms enclosing around their respective waists.

“It’s over, sweetie”, Markus whispered with a light shaking voice and mismatched eyes brighter than usual, but Connor couldn’t blame Markus for feeling a little overwhelmed, since he was feeling like that as well.

Without sparing any other look towards the man, Connor began to walk towards the door, with Dana’s right arm around his waist and her left around Markus’ one.

However, just when Connor was about to step outside of the room, the man talked again.

“Ya were right. She’s broken. So you can take it now, but when I will receive my new to-?”

Connor was surprised by his own capacity of reaction when in the blink of an eye he turned around, lunged against the man and threw him against one of the walls of the room, pressing his forearm against the man’s neck with enough strength to make the man gasp for air while desperately trying to push Connor’s arm away, his legs uselessly kicking the air because Connor had raised him lightly from the floor with the emphasis of his impulse.

With his LED blinking in red Connor stared at the man struggling with a cold, dangerous expression, wondering how he could act so calmly back then when seeing Dana lying on the floor, bleeding and crying, like surely so many times before. Because right now, knowing how much pain that man had put Dana through, he felt really tempted to increase even more the force of the grip. Besides, considering the worthless, pathetic way the man was wasting his life, maybe he would be doing him a favor…

“Connor”

The uncharacteristic dark thoughts that had filled Connor’s head vanished when Markus approached him from behind and settled a hand on his shoulder. Connor loosened up his grip but didn’t release the man yet.

“It’s not worth it”, Markus’ eyes showed harshness when looking at the man but his tone was serene, “ _he_ is not worth it. Look at Dana”, Connor did so and gulped when seeing the girl softly shake her head, “she is fine now, and that’s the only thing that matters. Don’t ruin that because of this piece of shit. Besides, I think he has learnt the lesson”

Connor followed Markus’ eyes and realized that the pants that the man was wearing were now darker around the crotch area. Connor realized that the man had pissed himself due to the fear, so after exhaling a long sigh Connor brusquely left the man go. Stuttering and with his eyes about to leave their orbits, the man let himself slide towards the floor until remaining sitting on it, looking up at Connor with terrified eyes.

Connor didn’t say anything. He just dedicated him a last disgusted glare before separating from him. After that he rapidly abandoned the room, suddenly needing being out of that suffocating place.

Climbing down the stairs in silence with Markus and Dana behind him, Connor tried hard to remove the lump that had settled on his throat. He couldn’t cry. It would be unfair. Dana hadn’t shed a single tear despite all she had gone through, so he didn’t have any right to do that.

When finally being outside the building, Connor took a long deep breath and turned towards Markus and Dana, but didn’t bring himself to look at them in the eye yet.

“I’m sorry”, he said, crossing his arms and looking at the snowy ground, “I almost lost control back there. I shouldn’t have-”

Connor’s apology was interrupted when Dana approached him once again to hug him with force. Connor didn’t return the hug immediately, his throat tightening even more because suddenly he felt the imperious necessity to apologize to Dana. To tell her that he was sorry for having been so slow when he first met her; for not having blown that damn door away to prevent that she was hurt a last time; for having been too machine at that moment and having barely reacted when hearing her cries; for coldly having considered the possibility of leaving her behind just to not compromise a stupid mission; for…

“I love you, dad”

All what Connor planned to say was forever lost when Dana said aloud those four words, with so much affection that Connor’s previous attempts of keeping his cool were utterly destroyed, tears of guilt but, above all, relief and happiness beginning to fall from his eyes.

“I love you too”, were the four words he decided to also say while hugging Dana back before looking at Markus, managing to catch a glimpse of him biting his lower lip to prevent its trembling before the deviant leader’s arms enclosed around him and around Dana in a tight hug.

“Let’s come back home”

Still hugging Dana with one arm, Connor used the other to return Markus’ embrace, burying his face in the crook of Markus’ neck while smiling through the tears.

What Markus had just said were another four words that Connor knew he would never get tired of listening.


End file.
